That Thing You Do
by Nutsaboutremus
Summary: A mesmerizing journey through the ups and downs of a torridly passionate relationship between two unforgettable characters who are as real as the emotions that bring them together. Promised to be like no other DG FIC! READ N REVIEW! ON HIATUS.
1. Default Chapter

**THAT THING YOU DO**

**Disclaimer: everything belongs to the genius JK Rowling..Jake Hamilton is all mine. The song That thing you do and the title come from the movie of the same title..though this is NOTHING like the movie..a very different context..  
**  
**_THAT THING YOU DO  
  
You, doing that thing you do  
Breaking my heart into a million pieces,  
Like you always do  
And you, don't mean to be cruel_**

**_You never even knew about the heartache  
I've been going through  
Well I'm trying trying to forget you girl  
But it's just so hard to do_**

**_Every time you do that thing you do  
I know all the games you play  
And I'm gonna find a way to let u know that  
You'll be mine someday  
  
Cause we, we'd be happy can't you see  
If you'd only let me be the one to hold you  
And keep you here with me  
Cause I'm trying trying to forget you girl  
  
But it's just so hard to do  
Every time you do that thing you do  
I don't ask a lot girl  
But I know one thing's for sure  
  
It's your love I haven't got girl  
And I just can't take it anymore  
Cause we, we'd be happy can't you see  
If you'd only let me be the one to hold you  
  
And keep you here with me  
Cause it hurts me so just to see you go_**

**_Around with someone new  
And if I know you you're doing that thing  
  
Everyday day just doing that thing  
I can't take you doing that thing you do_**

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**Chapter One: Signs of War**

"I cannot believe this is happening." Ginny muttered to herself the next day morning as she ran down the steps to the Grand Hall where she grabbed a bread roll and ran all the way down to the dungeons. 

Thank goodness for all the stamina from being chased by her elder brothers.

She was late. 

Extremely late for her first lesson on her first day of her seventh year back in Hogwarts which happened to be potions with the bloody Slytherins. Now, with no Ron and Hermione to make sure she was up and about, she was absolutely lost.

Luna, her best friend was of no use. The girl was probably still asleep thinking that it holidays and she was back home. A stitch was creeping up her side but she continued running.

It was unfortunate that she had scored well for Potions because now she had to take it for her NEWTS. 

This was all Harry's fault she decided. If he had not owled her about his boringly mundane quidditch training session, she would not have felt obligated to sit up last night and write back to him. 

He had become a pretty good friend from all the time she had spent with him in the DA preparing to defeat Voldemort and finally doing so last year much to the relief of the magical world.  
  
She ran down the hallway preparing to enter the dungeons murmuring apologies fervently to Professor Snape whom for some reason had not been present at the Grand Feast last night. 

What happened next however, Ginny would never have dreamt not even in her wildest ever nightmares, as she would tell Luna later.

The next thing she knew she was crashing right into something hard, yet soft and dark green in colour. 

Two strong arms, went around her, grabbing hold of her so that she did not tumble onto the floor. 

Ginny regained her balance and looked up at her rescuer's face and gasped.

"Surprised Weasley?" He drawled, his arms still holding onto her. 

Ginny gaped up at him for a few minutes staring into the pale, chiseled face of their worst enemy, 

**_Draco Malfoy._**

"Malfoy." She breathed, stepping away from him, shrugging him arms off. 

So what if he had saved her from a possible concussion he was Draco Malfoy, one who had taken great happiness out of insulting her family and whose father was a deatheater.

"Professor to you." He smirked even more this time. 

She stared at him, unable to conceal her surprise. 

_Professor?_

He swept past her his dark green robes swishing about him and pure dragonskin boots clicking against the floor as he entered the classroom she was about to go into.  
  
Ginny's eyes widened even more as realization hit her. 

She walked into the class slowly as if trying to put off the misery. She headed for the bench right behind dumping her thing on the table beside Colin.  
  
"Do you know who's our Potions Professor?" He asked, his eyes wide, nodding up to the front of the table. 

Ginny nodded numbly.  
  
"I know. We exchanged words." She muttered dully, promising herself to write to Harry, Hermione, Ron, Fred and George, hell even Percy and complain about the injustice of having Draco Malfoy as her professor.  
  
"What did he say?" Colin asked, eyes going even wider. 

Malfoy, Ginny realized, was too busy flaunting under the attention of the Slytherins, specifically the girls, to notice the disgruntled stares he was getting from the Gryffindor seventh years all of whom had heard about his nastiness or encountered it one way or another.

"Professor to you." She mimicked in a high-pitched voice that sounded nothing like Draco's but was hilarious enough for Colin to snigger and a few Gryffindors around them who over heard to laugh quietly.

"Care to share the joke, Miss. Weasley." Draco called out in a tone that indicated that he really did not care.

"It's a Gryffindor joke. Too witty and clever for you to understand." Ginny shot back, drawing admiring glances from her fellow Gryffindors and glares from the Slytherins specifically the girls of course.

Draco's face flushed in anger, not having expected such a sharp reply from the youngest Weasley. 

He had forgotten about her recklessly rebellious streak similar to that of her elder twin brothers.

"Score one for Ginny." Colin murmured, making Ginny grin triumphantly. The grin however faded at Draco's next words.  
  
"Ten points from Gryffindor for talking back to a Professor." He smirked at her, but Ginny shrugged it off.

Ten points was nothing compared to wining one over Malfoy on his first day as a Professor.

The rest of the lesson passed by rather uneventful, though Ginny felt Malfoy sneering at her every time he walked back but unable to do much more for her truth potion had turned out near perfect.

Having finished it ten minutes earlier, she helped Colin on his. Malfoy did not notice as he was busy with a few Slytherin girls who chose to spend that time sucking up to him.

***

"I mean, seriously, what is so swoon worthy about him?" Ginny asked genuinely baffled as she related what had happened to Luna during lunch.

Colin sat across from them stuffing his face with as much food that could fit into his rather tiny mouth.

Ginny looked away from him so that she would not burst out laughing. Colin always looked comical.

Luna paused to look up and stare in the distance. Ginny, having hung out with her the past four years, knew that she was just pondering her question.

"Think about it, what if he were in Gryffindor?" 

Colin choked on his food then and Ginny let out a loud shriek in the form of a protest. A few Hufflepuffs in the near by table turned to look at the three of them wondering what was going on.  
  
"Are you mad?" Ginny asked, knowing that her friend was as insane as she was but this was ridiculous. 

Colin nodded agreement to Ginny's question, still red faced and gulping down water.

" Hypothetically." She said, calmly used to Ginny's outbursts and Colin's stupidity.

"I mean he's not ugly and if he were a loyal good Gryffindor, like let's say Harry, everyone would like him even you." Luna pointed out.

Ginny had no idea whether to laugh out loud or strangle Luna for comparing Draco whose father was a deatheater and was thus obviously death eater material himself to Harry who had killed and defeated Voldermort.  
  
"I say you're nuts, Luna. He's father's a deatheater." Colin spoke up at last.

"I am not saying he's good. I am saying IF." Luna explained.

"Anyway he's father's dead right?" Luna turned to Ginny who nodded.

"Killed by Voldermort himself. Nobody really knows why." Colin listened raptly. He had not been involved in the War as much as Luna and Ginny.

"I heard he's engaged to Pansy Parkinson." Ginny looked up.

It was Jake Hamilton, a Hufflepuff who seemed to be always hanging around near them or the Gryffindor table. 

Colin insisted the guy had a deep-rooted regret for not being in Gryffindor. Luna had given Colin a 'how shallow can you be' look and had gone on to insist that he had the hots for Ginny.

Jake, a seventh year as well, had been walking by and hearing thier topic of discussion had leaned down beside Colin to let them on this tidbit of information he had heard from one of the Slytherins.

"Interesting." Luna commented, staring intently at Jake who ran a hand through his dark brown hair, shooting Ginny a smile. 

Ginny tried to forget Luna's ridiculous theory of the good-looking Hufflepuff Quidditich captain liking her and smiled back.  
  
"I'm not surprised." She smirked. Jake gave a short laugh.

"Heard about you telling him off." He grinned, the admiration evident in his eyes.

"Yeah?" Colin asked, amused.

"How come?" Ginny asked, half embarrassed and half proud.

"It's all over the school. Ginny Weasley giving the new Potions Professor Malfoy a piece of her mind." Jake reeled off as if reading a newspaper headline. Ginny blushed.

"Have to keep the Wealsey tradition going right, Gin?" Colin teased and Ginny laughed.

"I'm sorry but I have to admit I'm rather lost here." Jake shot her a disarming smile as he sat down beside Colin across from her. Luan shot her a knowing glance while Colin shot her a wary one.  
  
"So tell me more about this Weasley tradition." He continued, oblivious to the wary glances going around among the other three.  
  
"Nothing much-" Ginny answered only to be cut off by Luna.

"They hate Malfoy and he hates them. Long time enmity between the two most well known pureblood families, one dark and one good."

"Woah. Thank god I'm Muggleborn then."

"Why?" Colin asked.

"No enmity between me and the Weasleys or some other family. Can you imagine? I won't be able to date the daughter or something." Jake elaborated only to be pelted with bread rolls by Ginny.

"So you want to date Ginny?" Ginny felt her neck growing warm. Leave it to Luna to cut to the chase.

"Why not? Last I checked my surname was Hamilton and not Malfoy."

"You'd better go check again, mate." Colin murmured audible for everyone to hear. 

Ginny stifled a laugh, thankful for the comic relief. Things were getting a bit too embarrassing.

"So Ginny?" Luna turned on her.

"So what?" She asked, hoping to put off what her supposed best friend was getting to.

"I mean you're not seeing anyone right?" Jake cut in, an eager sparkle in his hazel eyes.

"No but-"

"But what?" Colin asked. Ginny shot him a dirty look. 

In actual fact after two unfulfilling short term relationships, Ginny was looking for something more than just getting asked by guy on a date and going on several dates with him. She wanted the falling in love, the courting, and the feeling of being chased by some guy, the roses, the candlelit dinner and romantic walks and at the end of it all the magical, knee-jerking kiss. The mystery, the romance typical of those muggle romance books she read.

"I-I like someone else." She blurted. 

Luna shot her a knowing look. She was obviously lying through her teeth.

"Oh." Jake looked briefly disappointed.

"Does this person know you like him?" Colin asked. Ginny could strangle the boy.

"No." She answered wishing she had not for Jake looked hopeful all over again.  
  
"So then-"  
  
"Not a good idea."  
  
"Maybe after." He suggested. Ginny winced inwardly. How desperate was this guy?

"Maybe." She found herself saying, regretting it instantly. 

But then again she never knew what would happen and Jake might prove to be useful. 

That was the Art of War. Never eliminate any form of defence for it might prove to come in useful. 

And falling in love was a lot like fighting a war, the defence shield being broken down bit-by-bit by love and the final capturing off the mighty fortress - one's heart.

**A/n Read n review please and check out my other completed story Love Conquers All.. this promises to be just as romantic and cool as that.. **


	2. Don't know why

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**2. Don't Know Why  
  
  
**

_I waited 'til I saw the sun  
I don't know why I didn't come  
I left you by the house of fun  
  
_

_I don't know why I didn't come  
I don't know why I didn't come  
  
When I saw the break of day  
I wished that I could fly away  
Instead of kneeling in the sand  
Catching teardrops in my hand  
  
My heart is drenched in wine  
But you'll be on my mind  
Forever  
  
Out across the endless sea  
I would die in ecstacy  
But I'll be a bag of bones  
Driving down the road alone  
  
My heart is drenched in wine  
But you'll be on my mind _

_Forever  
  
Something has to make you run  
I don't know why I didn't come  
I feel as empty as a drum  
I don't know why I didn't come  
  
- Norah Jones_

_Dear Harry,  
  
How are the Chudley Cannons? Still boring? How's __Taylor__? She still thinks you are too much of a jock for her tastes? (__Taylor__ was this pretty girl from one of the other quidditch teams whom Harry quite liked) Anyway, you will not believe who's my new Potions Professor. Guess. Okay, I'll tell you. Draco Malfoy. Yes the one and only.  
  
Augh, it's unbearable. Am going to write to my whole family and inform them about my dire straits. Maybe I should pull a 'Fred and George' and ride off into the sunset on a broomstick, away from Hogwarts.  
  
Love  
  
Ginny  
  
Ginny smiled grimly as she handed the letter to Zeus, the brown colored good natured owl Harry and Hermione had bought for her birthday this year.  
  
She could count on Harry's sympathy. She realized that she was glad to be friends with Harry and nothing more. He made a good friend.  
  
She could not imagine ever wanting more. He was like another brother but a less dense and more considerate one at that.  
  
"Ginny!" Colin burst into the common room rushing over to sit beside her.  
  
He looked slightly breathless and very excited with his curly blonde hair all over his face. He was attracting stares from the other gryffindors.  
  
"You won't believe this." He cried out, barely able to contain himself.  
  
'What?" Ginny asked, dreading whatever was coming. Her day could not get any worse.  
  
"Maconagall slapped Malfoy." He let out in a incoherent rush. Ginny gasped, finally understanding what he had said.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Yeah, I just saw it. Me and Luna." Colin babbled. Ginny gaped at him. This was great.  
  
"What happened?" She asked, delighted by the turn of events and barely considering why Luna and Colin were wandering around together at night.  
  
'They're in Dumbledore's office now. We saw them going there. Dumbledore intervened I think Malfoy said something to the degree of Macongall not being able to control her Gryffindors. We only heard the last bit because we heard them arguing and Luna wanted to know what was going on so we stepped into the staff room pretending to ask Flitwick something. We heard that and Macongall went all red before striding toward Malfoy and slapping him. I think she's wanted to do that for sometime." Colin grinned, seeing the surpised yet delighted look on her face.  
  
"Malfoy's face went red and he stood up all angry but Macongall rocked! She just stood there glaring at him even though he was a total head tall than her. And then Dumbeldore strode in and you should have seen his face. He looked like he was trying so hard not to laugh. Then Luna and I had to run out because I was going to have an asthma attack from stifling my laughter."  
  
By then all the other gryffindors in the room, were gathered around them listening avidly to Colin's narration.  
  
"But why was Malfoy insinuating the Gryffindors for?"  
  
Colin shrugged but he glanced at Ginny, his cheeks turning red, a sure sign that he was lying. Ginny reminded herself to interrogate him about that later.  
  
Colin was busy fielding questions from his audience who soon dispersed to mull over this piece of news.  
  
Some even commented admirably in Macoangall's favour. Everyone, even the first years thanks to their informative seniors knew all about Draco Malfoy.  
  
"So why was he complaining about us?" Ginny asked, Colin who looked a tad sheepish.  
  
'I don't know but Luna reckons that he was complaining about you mouthing off to him." Ginny rolled her eyes.  
  
"I'm not that influential and powerful I'm afraid so tell Luna to sod off with her stupid theories." Ginny snapped.  
  
Colin held his hands up as if in surrender.  
  
"Hey I'm not getting in the middle of both of you'll." He looked genuinely terrified at the idea.  
  
  
_

"I'm telling you-" Luna murmured into her ear.  
  
"SHUT IT." Ginny grit through her teeth, her famous Wealsey temper rising, one that was known to be as fiery as her flaming red hair.  
  
"I would advise you to do so." Colin nodded towards Luna who shot him a dirty look but shut up nonetheless.  
  
If Ginny's mind had not been so occupied with the thought of serving detention under Malfoy that night, she would have realized that Luna had actually listened to Colin. What was the world coming to?  
  
Ginny glared down at the grand table where Draco sat two seats down from Dumbeldore.  
  
Ginny had lost her trust in Dumbeldore's state of mind. The war must have traumatized him pretty badly for him to hire Malfoy of all people.  
  
The stupid git had given her detention for just walking into class one minute after the rest of the class.  
  
He was onto her, practically breathing down her neck during the lesson and taking great delight in reminding her about her detention later than night, smirk on his face and all.  
  
Luna had insisted upon hearing this that it was retribution since Ginny had been the indirect cause for Draco getting slapped.  
  
According to Luna this proved that she was right about Draco complaining about her to Maconagall. Ginny had blanched and told Luna to give IT UP!  
  
Her two friends bade her good bye later as she headed down to the dungeon alone, the cold seeping into her bones despite her cloak.  
  
She felt a ripple of fear. Whether it was because of the eerie dungeons that appeared even darker at night or the prospect of spending 'quality' time alone with Malfoy, she did not know.  
  
She knocked on the door before stepping in. There was no sign of Malfoy and for this she was thankful.  
  
She could at least settle down and psychologically prepare herself for his arrival and possible torment.  
  
The door burst open startling her (so much for her psychological readiness) as he stomped in a flurry of dark emerald robes.  
  
He brushed past her, and headed for his table where he sat down abruptly, supporting his elbows on his desk, his head in his hands, his fingers entangled with his wheat blonde hair which flopped over his face concealing it from her view.  
  
She wondered if he had even noticed her presence. Perhaps she could slip out unnoticed..  
  
"You can label the bottles on the bench there." Draco murmured, his voice noticeably  
  
thick.  
  
He was still not looking up. Ginny got up and meekly moved across the room and did as she was told.  
  
Somehow she felt as if this was not the time for her Weasley wit. Obviously something had happened.  
  
Had Maconagall slapped him again? Ginny smirked at that thought.  
  
She glanced up at the sound of running water.  
  
Draco was leaning down into the sink nearby, splashing his face with water.  
  
As he straightened up, the water running in rivers down his pale, chiseled face did not conceal his red-rimmed ocean gray eyes.  
  
He had been crying.  
  
Ginny froze for a moment stunned by this revelation that Draco Malfoy whose entire reputation was based on the fact that his heart was literally stone, had shed tears.  
  
Tears of what Ginny could only wonder. Heartbreak? Lonesome? Fear?  
  
"What're you looking at, Weasley?" He sneered at her, his lip curling in disgust, though it did not infuriate her as much as it usually did.  
  
In fact she felt a twinge of sympathy for this man-boy who was nothing but a bundle of insecurities beneath that hard-core exterior.  
  
"Nothing." She replied calmly, a sense of superiority settling over her due to her recently acquired knowledge.  
  
He glared at her obviously taken aback by the lack of rebellious response.  
  
"Now you're staring." She pointed out, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips at the sight of his eyes widening in surprise as he realized that she was not snapping at him or hexing him.  
  
"I would never stare at a Weasley!" He protested, grimacing as if he had swallowed skele grow.  
  
"You're sure about that? Wouldn't want to eat you words so soon would you?" She asked, cheekily. She wondered inwardly where that had come from.  
  
She glanced at Malfoy to see if he looked as shocked as she felt. He did not. He was seated at his desk, his legs up on the table, smirking at her.  
  
She felt the beginnings of a prickle of her anger. She hated that smirk no matter what.  
  
"So you think I, a Malfoy, would check you out?" He asked, snidely.  
  
Before she could respond,  
  
"Think again, Miss. Weasley." He added, looking smug and feeling on top of himself again.  
  
"Thought about it and believe me, it gives me the eepie jeepies just thinking about it." She shot back, labeling the last bottle.  
  
"I'm done."  
  
"Good."  
  
"Can I go?" She asked, standing in front of his table.  
  
He looked up at her, smirking, though the smirk never reached up to his seemingly sorrow filled eyes.  
  
"Go."  
  
She turned and walked out of the room, only to pause at the doorway, look back at him, her shoulder length wavy red hair swinging off her face,  
  
"Good night." she said before walking out of the dungeons.  
  
It was a small polite gesture, one that she had not given much thought to but then again, power could be found in the tiniest things and so the hard stone began to crack, unbeknownst to all.  
  
  


A/n - Thank you for all the reviews will not update more chappies till I get at least ten reviews..hehe I noe very demanding.


	3. Somebody Save Me

**3. Somebody Save Me  
**  
  


_i__ feel my wings have broken in your hands  
i feel the words unspoken inside  
and they pull you under  
and i would give you anything you want, but no  
you were all i wanted  
and all my dreams are falling down  
  
crawling around and around somebody save me  
let your warm hands break right thru and  
save me  
  
_

_i__ don't care how you do it  
just stay, stay  
oh come on  
  
i've been waiting for you i see the world has folded in your heart  
i feel the waves crash down inside  
and they pulled me under  
i would give you anything you want, but no  
you were all i wanted  
and all my dreams have fallen down  
  
crawling around around somebody save me  
let your warm hands break right thru  
somebody save me  
  
i don't care how you do it  
just stay, stay  
come on  
  
i've been waiting for you¡­¡­  
  
  
  
_

"Hey, Gin."  
  
"Hey."  
  
"Hullo!!"  
  
"Uh-huh."  
  
"Was detention that bad?" That was Colin noticing that lack of enthusiasm in Ginny's respond to his and Luna's greetings.  
  
" No, I just have to finish this letter to Harry. He wants to meet us during our next Hogsmead weekend. Fred and George are coming too."  
  
She explained, pausing her writing, as she tapped the bottom of her lip thoughtfully with the end of the quill, glancing down at the parchment oblivious to the thoughtful glances being directed in her direction from the grand table.  
  
"Cool." Was Colin's response.  
  
Ginny barely heard him. After hurriedly finishing her letter and a quick 'see you at Charms' to Luna, she headed for the school owlery.  
  
As she tied the letter to Zeus leg, she felt someone else enter the owlery from behind her.  
  
Out of the corner of her eye, she recognized, the tall broad shouldered athletic frame of Draco Malfoy.  
  
If he had noticed her, her gave no sign to indicate so.  
  
She noticed a harsh focus in the way he tied his letter to a tawny black owl's leg and the determination in his clenched strong square jaw.  
  
She turned to slip out quietly not before hearing him mutter to himself, almost inaudibly,  
  
"It's time for certain things to change." As he watched his owl swoop out and flutter before soaring into the bright morning sky.  
  
  


"I swear this is the hardest potion ever." Colin murmured as Ginny helped him slice the figs into thin slices to add into their respective potions.  
  
Ginny nodded, absorbed in her task an at hand and perhaps with her thoughts.  
  
She glanced up at the table where Professor Malfoy, as she refused to call him, was seated, gazing distractedly at the class. Curiosity was gnawing away at her. All those adventure seeking experiences with Harry, Hermione and Ron had left her in need of one.  
  
Malfoy was far from an adventure but something was up and the keen detective in her wanted to know every very much what was it.  
  
As if to answer her mind's questions the door burst open and a short, stumpy looking black haired woman rushed into the room, walking towards the front of the room a tad unsteadily.  
  
Almost as if she were drunk Ginny would tell Luna and Jake later.  
  
All the seventh years present recognized her. 

She was none other that Pansy Parkinson.  
  
Draco stood up, the distracted look in his eyes gone, only to be replaced by an expressionlessly cold mask, one that he normally reserved for Potter or the Weasleys.  
  
"Draco, I need to speak to you." She murmured to him, her voice unnaturally high with panic and urgency.  
  
The whole class had momentarily ceased what they were doing and watching the scene unfold with great interest.  
  
"I have a class." His voice would have frozen an already frozen icicle.  
  
Even Ginny felt a chill dart up her spine. Or was it from admiration at him being this distant to Pansy the pug? She did not even want to go there.  
  
"I need to talk to you. NOW." She pleaded, sounding on the verge of tears.  
  
"There is nothing to say." Was all Draco would respond.  
  
Ginny observed Pansy's shoulders shaking violently, before sobs echoed around the dungeons obviously enemating from her. Colin exchanged curious glances with her.  
  
"Two years together and you just throw it all away like this!" She attempted to whisper fiercely into his face only to be heard by the entire class.  
  
"We had nothing. It was all a farce." His words were distant and were heartbreaking.  
  
Ginny watched appalled by his heartlessness. No matter how much she detested Pansy, those were the last words one would want to hear from someone they had given their heart to. Perhaps Pansy had not done so as her next statement proved.  
  
"How can you do this? Our engagement? Wedding? All those people?" Pansy babbled, nearly hysterical.  
  
Ginny realized then that Draco must have owled Pansy that morning calling their engagement off and breaking up with him. That was what he had been talking about at the owlery.  
  
It all fit perfectly, coming together like the seams of an unwoven dress.  
  
Colin's eyes were getting bigger and bigger by the second. Ginny felt like laughing at the look on his face.  
  
He was still quite short, only an inch taller than her own petite frame and his face had never lost its eager beaver look.  
  
"That's all you care about - other people." Draco murmured, more to himself than her, his tone filled with resignation.  
  
"No! I care about you! But you don't care about me!" Pansy whined.  
  
"Who cares!" Ginny muttered, loud enough for only Colin to hear. Or so she assumed. She had always been rather loud.  
  
Draco and Pansy glanced at her direction, having obviously heard her.  
  
A terrible silence overtook the classroom as every pair of eyes looked in her direction.  
  
Even Colin was looking at her with 'What the hell were you thinking' look.  
  
Anyway Ginny thought that this argument was getting nowhere. It was pointless.  
  
Pansy recognized her immediately as one of the redheaded mudblood loving Weasleys and glared at her before stomping out of them room, having nothing more to say to Draco. 

Draco however, sat back slumped in his seat, not bothering to snap at the class to get back to their work which they eventually did after whispers of admiration for Ginny's brave act and about Pansy and Draco.  
  
As the class gathered to leave as the bell rang, Draco seemed to come alive, collecting their potions in bottles on the table. Ginny was the last to place her potion up on the bench in front.  
  
Just before she could turn around and walk off,  
  
"Thank you." 

She spun back to see Draco sitting at his desk, his gray blue orbs staring back at her, his lips strangely not in a smirk but neither in a smile.  
  
She was about to ask what for but realized what it was immediately.  
  
She felt a prickle of anger. So now Malfoy thought she was trying to help him fight his battles! He had better think again!  
  
She was about to tell him just that when he held his hand out, palm facing her as if by some miracle, he knew what she was going to say and did not wish her to do so.  
  
"Whatever your motivations, it's your actions that mattered so thank you." His voice was insistent and full of authority but his eyes though seemed to plead with her to accept this token of gratitude.  
  
Not knowing what else to say, she nodded her head, unsmiling, before walking out of the classroom.  
  
Draco watched her leave, her fiery red hair tied up in a ponytail that bounced against the nape of her neck as she walked, watching his unexpected, reluctant rescuer.  
  
  


News of the incident had spread throughout the entire school like wizard's flu.

Ginny was unnaturally quiet that week, lost in her thoughts, deep bewildering thoughts. 

  
Most of all her she pondered on his sudden burst of gratitude and unexpected breaking up with Pansy.

Why had he been so polite? Why had he decided to break up with Pansy now? How about his father? How had Voldermort killing him affected Draco? And why the hell was she thinking so much about Draco in the first place?  
  
  
That last thought caused Ginny to get up and join Colin and two other Gryffindors in a boisterous game of wizard's chess one that she won thanks to her Weasley genes.  
  
  


"He was still a fallen angel in despair but necessity teaches wingless angels to love." She read aloud from behind his shoulder, startling him as he spun his head around to see whom it was.  
  
Before her identity registered in his mind,  
  
he found himself admiring this girl who stood before him, with her long red hair falling in waves on her shoulders, shimmering in the fading dusk light,  
  
her heart shaped face, chocolate brown eyes that could melt even a rock and lips that looked so soft and kissable.  
  
Then he blinked in surprise as he realized who this was.  
  
The past few days had been filled with startling revelations for him but this had to be the _MOST_ startling revelation of it all - admiring Ginny Weasley, his student, the younger sister of the bane of his existence, the friend of annoyingly attention seeking Harry Potter 

Ginny stood there, wondering if this had been a really bad idea. Come to think of it, it had been more of an impulsive action on her part than an idea.  
  
It was just that as she had wandered around the large expanse of the library, she had caught a sight of Draco that she had never envisaged.  
  
He had been sitting on one of the window sills, dragon booted legs up, absorbedly reading a book.  
  
So absorbed was he in his reading that he had not bothered to brush away the lock of pale blonde hair that flopped into his eyes, or notice that the sun was fast setting, its crimson light outlining his aristocratic sharp nose, chiseled cheekbones and straight square jaw.  
  
Holed up in the library reading a book was something Draco Malfoy the student would never have done but now, here he was doing just that as a Professor.  
  
She had been so intrigued by the poignancy of the scene that met her eyes that she had walked up silently towards him, stood behind him and read the first line she had seen.  
  
A line that had been so heart wrenchingly poetic and dreamy that it bowled her over.  
  
"Miss. Weasley." He managed.  
  
She smiled at him .realizing that she was not going to be thrown into detention.  
  
A smile that reached up to her eyes Draco realized, something he had rarely been able to do himself.  
  
"Do you think it's true?" She asked, not liking the way he was looking at her but nevertheless intrigued enough to converse with him.  
  
He was like a mystery and frankly speaking who did not like a good mystery to solve?  
  
"Yes but I don't think one can fall in love out of necessity." He commented thoughtfully. Ginny failed miserably to conceal her surprise that he was actually answering her questions.  
  
"Love has to happen naturally due to attraction." He continued perceiving her surprised expression as one of confusion and thus a call for further explanation.  
  
"True but sometimes love can save people."  
  
She murmured, enjoying this discussion choosing to ignore how surreal it was since this was supposed to be mean, shallow Draco Malfoy here, who was discussing aphorisms with her!  
  
Draco stared at Ginny mulling over her words.  
  
Then could love save _him_?  
  
Be his savior in the darkest hours of his life, where he had no one? But who would love him in the first place?  
  
Or was it rather he loving someone than someone loving him? Who could he love?  
  
"Something to think about.' He commented hopping off the windowsill with the kind of grace and ease typical of quidditch seekers.  
  
One end of his lips had curled up into what looked to be a half smile.  
  
'Had he just smiled at her?' Ginny pondered, trying to smile politely back.  
  
'Had he just smiled at her?' Draco wondered, as he walked off, book under one arm.  
  
  


A/n : Thank you guys for all the wonderful reviews..im kinda stuck in the story..mental block..  
  
have a vague idea where I want to go but no idea how to get there..hopefully your reviews will make it all better and give me some inspiration..hehe..blackmail. Love you guys for your reviews  
  
The song in the previous chappie is A Norah Jones one.This is one is a Remy Zero song for all Smallville fans! Lex Luthor Rocks!!!!!!!!  
  
  



	4. Somewhere Out There

****

****

**SOMEWHERE OUT THERE  
  
  
**

**__**

_Last time I talked to you  
You were lonely and out of place  
You were looking down on me  
Lost out in space  
  
We laid underneath the stars  
Strung out and feeling brave  
I watched the red orange glow  
I watched you float away  
  
Down here in the atmosphere  
Garbage and city lights  
You've gone to save your tired soul  
You've gone to save our lives  
  
I turned on the radio  
To find you on satellite  
I'm waiting for this sky to fall  
I'm waiting for a sign  
  
All we are  
Is all so far  
  
You're falling back to me  
You're a star that I can see  
I know you're out there  
Somewhere out there  
  
You're falling out of reach  
Defying gravity  
I know you're out there  
Somewhere out there  
  
- Our Lady Peace_  
  
  


Harry walked briskly down the concrete pathway through Hogsmead, heading in the general direction of Three Broomsticks where he was to meet Ginny, Luna, Colin, Fred and George.  
  
The latter two had dropped by to check out their competition - Zonko's. Harry had come mainly to check up on Ginny, as foretold and advised by her very concern elder brother Ron.  
  
Harry, however saw it as more a meeting with a good friend than with his best friend's sister.  
  
Where Ron was dense, Ginny was not and where Hermione was a bit of a prude, Ginny was not, providing him with just the kind of friend he had needed and still did.  
  
So absorbed in his thoughts was Harry that it took him a moment to realize someone was blocking his path.  
  
Someone clad in dragonskin boots, expensive but pretty fine taste Harry thought to himself, and emerald robes.  
  
"Malfoy." Harry stated as a form of greeting.  
  
The blonde tall man who stood before him looked an inexplicably spoilt as ever from the black thestral skinned gloves right down to his initials DM engraved on the sides of each of his boots.  
  
"Potter." Draco nodded at him.  
  
Harry was not surprised at meeting him having been informed earlier by Ginny about his position at Hogwarts but he had not expected this early in his visit. Oh well, better now than later.  
  
Harry slipped his hands into his robes, fingering his wand. Just in case, one never really knew what Malfoy was up to.  
  
A slight sneer crossed Draco's lips.  
  
"You don't have to clutch your wand, Potter. Trust me, I have no intentions of hexing you." He stated, bemused.  
  
Harry stared at him, eye to eye, just as tall as he was.  
  
"Constant vigilance." Harry shot back, quoting their fourth year DADA Professor Moody.  
  
He was a tad surprised by Malofy's civility. Perhaps he was plotting something worst.  
  
"So be it." Draco stated, the air of resignation about him palpable before walking off.  
  
Was Malfoy trying to be nice? Harry wondered as they parted ways. The thought itself felt too strange to be even spoken aloud.  
  
"Something's up." Harry told the rest as they sat sipping their drinks at Three Broomsticks after recounting the whole incident.  
  
Ginny though was surprisingly quiet.  
  
The incident had not surprised her because of her previous experience with Malfoy especially when they were in the library.  
  
She had not told anyone about that because the personal value of that meeting very great to her. It was not everyday that she was able to reach that depth in conversation with anyone.  
  
Sitting across from Harry and beside her brothers, she did not notice Luna shooting her questioning glances.  
  
"Perhaps he's gone soft. You know after the War, his idol's dead, his two sidekicks, what were their names?" Fred snapped his fingers trying to remember.  
  
"Crabbe and Goyle." Harry supplied, helpfully exchanging grins with Ginny.  
  
"Ah! Yes! Both of them locked up." Fred continued. Everyone else nodded, that seeming the most plausible explanation.  
  
"Change of topic. He's still a Malfoy so we shouldn't give him the privilege of being talked about for more than five minutes." George stated.  
  
"We've overshot." Colin pointed out politely.  
  
Then they launched into a discussion of whether Wizard's Wheezes had more products than Zonko which led to ¡®when the bloody hell was Ron going to prefess his love for Hermione¡¯ (in Fred's words).  
  
Even Harry did not have the answer to the latter.  
  
Ginny was laughing pretty hard as he recounted an incident where Ron tried to kiss Hermione but the girl had thought he was trying to find ways to pick on her.  
  
"Well, well. If it isn't Potty and the Weasles having a reunion."  
  
Draco drawled as he stood there by the table, staring down at them with visibly glazed eyes.  
  
Ginny who was sitting the nearest to him could smell the strong stench of Friewhiskey He was drunk.  
  
Ginny looked at him disgusted, the smell overpowering. Harry must have got a whiff himself because he was shaking his head in disapproval.  
  
"Why the laughing? What's the joke? Tell me the joke!" He demanded, sneering.  
  
"Gone soft? I take it back.": Geroge murmured while Colin stifled a laugh.  
  
Their Potions Professor drunk would make a good story that would last for decades.  
  
"Malfoy, you're drunk so I suggest you shut up." Harry spoke, in that Auror voice of his, cold, distant and filled with authority.  
  
"Who in bloody hell are YOU to tell ME to SHUT UP!" He leaned down into Harry's face to roar the last two words.  
  
By now, everyone else in the pub had stopped to watch this unfolding scene.  
  
Harry did not flinch staring right back at Draco.  
  
It was Ginny who got up and reached across, putting a hand on Draco's arm and pulling him away from Harry.  
  
He staggered backwards, glancing around to see who had touched him so gently.  
  
The last thing he remembered seeing before blacking out were a pair of dark brown eyes looking down at him with a look that nobody had ever used on him before.  
  
"Hell! What are we going to do now?" George moaned, his peaceful evening of teasing his sister, and drinking butterbeer disrupted  
  
"Carry him back." Ginny stated matter of factly as she stood, looking down at the crumpled form of the normally very held together Draco.  
  
Harry made a face but he realized Ginny was serious.  
  
"Well, I'll take one arm and Fred you can take the other." Harry instructed a tad reluctantly but seeing no other choice.  
  
"Actually, why can't we leave him lying in the drain somewhere." George suggested.  
  
"Sounds good." Colin added.  
  
"Don't be impractical. We may hate him but we should not stoop to his level." Luna spoke up.  
  
Ginny smiled at her, knowing that she could always count on her. Luna, however did not smile back. She seemed to be looking at Ginny thoughtfully. 

So with Fred and Harry holding on to each arm, they lifted him up and dragged him all the way back to Hogwarts using the secret passageway of course.  
  
Harry, however kind did not want to be seen by the whole of Hogsmead helping one of his supposed enemies. Ditto for Fred.  
  
They moment they reached the witch with the hump, Colin was sent ahead to give warning for anyone approaching.  
  
"It's best no one catches him in this state and us helping him." Ginny had explained and there had been nods of agreement all around.  
  
Luna walked behind them a good distance to keep off anyone who happened to be coming up from behind.  
  
In this fashion, they moved towards the stairs leading down to the dungeon, where according to Fred, the Potions Professor's room was located.  
  
They were silent, Harry and Fred lugging the dead weight of Malfoy and the rest of them holding their breath in bated anticipation and tension of being found.  
  
Just as they reached the top of the stairs, 

"Miss. Lovegood!"  
  
Everyone froze in their tracks at the sound of Professor Macongall's voice.  
  
She was coming down the corridor yet to turn the corner and see them.  
  
Luna had spun around to face her, pasting her usually distant look on her face.  
  
Ginny looked around frantically, her mind whirling. Even Harry looked panicked. With a sudden burst of inspiration, she turned towards Harry.  
  
"Harry! Go! Maconagll loves you!"  
  
With that she pushed Harry towards Luna, simultaneously grabbing the other arm of the still unconscious Draco, motioning to her brothers and racing down the stairs into the dungeons.  
  
They stopped at the foot of the stairs, breathless and listening to Harry sweet talk Professor Maconcnagll - something which was not hard to do since he was after all The Man who killed Voldermort.  
  
"I don't believe this is for bloody Malfoy, someone I would have hexed upon sight." George muttered as they looked for his room after Harry and Luna had rejoined them.  
  
They managed to find his room after a while. Fred dumped him on the bed, where he lay sprawled and dead to the world.  
  
The room was done up in dark green, even the bed spreads which were nothing but the best silk from China.  
  
It was obvious who the owner of the room was, someone rich and very much a Slytherin.  
  
"Let's get out of here." Fred spoke, echoing everyone else's thoughts.  
  
'No Gryffindor can be in such a room too long. Positively lethal." George commented as they stepped out of the room.  
  
Ginny, the last one out, closed the door silently behind her, making sure it was not locked. She had some things to tend to.  
  
They made a brief trip to Dumbledore's office, where he ordered some things from Fred and George's shop and chatted with the rest inquiring about school and ignoring the groans from Colin upon mentioning the new Potions Professor.  
  
He had insisted that there was a reason for everything and thus, the hiring of Mr. Malfoy.  
  
Luna, however was quieter than usual glancing from time to time at Ginny who sat beside Harry pretending to be absorbed in the conversation, her mind a million miles away.  
  
Afterwhich Harry, Fred and George bade them goodbye and Ginny took off to the hospital wing telling Colin that she had a slight headache.  
  
It was an obvious lie.  
  
Upon reaching the hospital wing, she asked Madam Promfrey for a cup of beetelnut juice pretending to have a bad throat.  
  
Madam Promfrey looked at her suspiciously before giving her one.  
  
Ginny ignored the suspicious glances coming her way as she walked out of the hospital wing carrying the cup of steaming juice in her hands.  
  
Madam Promfrey probably thought she was getting it for a drunk friend.  
  
Beetlenut juice was not only soothing for a bad throat but also made the effects of hangover milder.  
  
Mug in hand, she headed down to the dungeons again. She did not notice dirty blonde haired girl waiting just outside Malfoy's room door.  
  
"So this is what all that was about."  
  
Luna's knowing voice filled the silent night air as Ginny drew to a halt in front of her, shocked, splling some juice all over her robes and the floor.  
  
"Lu-"  
  
"What are you doing Ginny?" Luna asked resignedly looking at her best friend whom she had been observing the whole evening and prided herself on knowing her well enough to have predicted this action of hers.  
  
"I don't know." Ginny sighed; looking down at the cup she was holding, inwardly wondering the reason behind her actions tonight, every one of them.  
  
It was his eyes, she realized. The way he had looked when they had talked in the library.  
  
Those pools of murky gray blue had not been icy cold as they normally were but had been deep oceans of sorrow and melancholy.  
  
It had touched her, reached into the core of her soul, and touched the shy, lonely, sad girl she had once been.  
  
He may be her Professor but he was only a year older after all.  
  
Luna saw her friend thinking and pondering.  
  
"Perhaps you do now." She mentioned softly. Ginny nodded.  
  
"Are you going to stop me?" She asked a tad worriedly.  
  
Luna shook her head.  
  
"Just don't get hurt, Gin." She murmured, opening the door for her to walk by.  
  
'I'll just be a friend." Ginny whispered back, smiling.  
  
Luna nodded, not agreeing but just to make her friend happy. Besides she did not want to hint at anything more than a friendship for suggestion was a powerful tool.  
  
  


Draco woke up at around noon the next day heavy headed, thankful it was a Sunday which meant no lessons.  
  
He noticed the unfamiliar mug on his bedside table through half closed eyes.  
  
He had no idea how he had gotten back into his room and did not wish to know.  
  
At least not for now.  
  
He sat up slowly, his muscles creaking especially the ones at the base of his skull.  
  
He gingerly placed his feet on the floor.  
  
Too exhausted by all this movement to stand up, he reached across for the mug.  
  
It had been enchanted to be kept warm.  
  
It was beetelnut juice and he was grateful for whichever kind soul's act this was.  
  
He gulped it down, finding relief in its bitter sweet taste that flooded his body soothing his aching muscles and head.  
  
He placed the mug down and lay down back in the bed, staring up at the ceiling fan watching it rotate hypnotically.  
  
His mind wandered and just before his heavy as lead eyelids could drop and he could slip back into dreamless slumber,  
a vision of sorts, more like a memory of a pair of beautiful brown eyes filled his mind's eye.  
  
What made those molten chocolate eyes beautiful was not so much their color but the concern that pooled in them.  
  
He wondered whom they belonged to.  
  
With that thought he slipped back into slumber.  
  
  


A/n I know you guys are very very confused right now..some parts seem like its missing but there are just a lot of unanswered questions that's all..all which will be answered in due time..  
  
so do review..and please be kind since this my first draco ginny fic and ill wait for twently reviews to upload the next chapter..the one where it all begans.


	5. Change the World

**Change the world**  
  
_If__ I could reach the stars _

_Pull one down for you,  
Shine it on my heart  
So you could see the truth:  
  
That this love I have inside  
Is everything it seems.  
But for now I find _

_Only in my dreams  
  
That I can change the world,  
I will be the sunlight in your universe.  
You would think my love was _

_really__ something good,  
  
Baby if I could change the world.  
  
-Eric Clapton  
  
  
_

Ginny sat across from Colin and Luna in the library, staring down at her DADA textbook but not really reading it, not even seeing the words.  
  
She was wondering about Draco's sudden absence from all his classes the past three days of the week.  
  
Colin had decided that he was still suffering from the ghastly effects of a hangover. Luna and Ginny knew otherwise.  
  
There were so many questions marks about Malfoy. First there was still the unknown reason behind his crying. Then his sudden breaking up with Pansy.  
  
Then he being nice to her and Harry and then getting exceptional drunk, which even for a Malfoy was a bit too crass.  
  
Then now his unexplained absence.  
  
The biggest question mark of all was her sudden sympathy for him, which was the reason for all this pondering about him.  
  
Gees, she had better stop this. She had her N.E.WT.S coming up!  
  
"There she goes again." Colin joked, breaking into her thoughts.  
  
Luna smiled wryly as they both looked at Ginny who looked back up at them startled.  
  
"Lost in that mind of yours?" Luna teased.  
  
Ginny grinned, nodding.  
  
"What else." She murmured more to herself.  
  
"Well I've got detention to serve.."  
  
Luna made a face standing up with her books in her arms. She had been late for transfiguration lesson that day.  
  
"I'll walk you to Macongall's classroom." Colin offered standing up as well.  
  
Ginny glanced at him, noticing his neck going all red as Luna smiled at him a tad gratefully.  
  
"It's on the way to Quiddtich practice." He offered as a feeble excuse seeing Ginny's questioning glance.  
  
Ginny had quit the quidditch team to focus on the school newsletter of which she was sub editor.  
  
They left a minute later. Ginny felt the silence of the library settle on her, its stillness seeping into her soul.  
  
She went back to writing her essay totally oblivious to the owl that had swooped into the middle of the library much to the dismay of Madam Pince.  
  
The gorgeous black eagle owl landed on her table, wings fluttering all over, clicking its beak proudly as if demanding to be noticed.  
  
Ginny looked up at all that noise and drew back in utter surprise at the sight of an owl on her table in the library.  
  
What was this? She could see the disapproving stares Madam Pince was giving her from the counter.  
  
Other students were also staring in her direction some of them admiring the owl.  
  
The owl held its leg out, a note attached to it. Ginny glanced around seeing no one else the owl could be pointing to.  
  
Besides curiosity was getting the better of her. This owl looked very unfamiliar and could not be belong to anyone she knew.  
  
The moment she took the envelope, the owl took off, swooping gracefully out of them room.  
  
The envelope had her name written on it, her full name  
  
'Vrigina Weasley'  
  
Fingers trembling slightly with anticipation she slid it open, staring down at the note with disbelief before reading it three times in order to let it sink in.  
  
There were only four words written on it, the handwriting expressively cursive but its writer's identity not revealed.  
  
'Thank you once again'  
  
It could only be one person who had sent this note, only one very likely suspect but yet in a sense unlikely to be capable of such an act of gratitude.  
  
It could only be Draco Malfoy.  
  
Ginny slipped the note into her pocket before standing up and gathering her books. She needed the privacy of her dormitiory very badly.  
  
She had to think over this. She wondered if she should show it to Luna but what was the big deal anyway?  
  
She was just being thanked for helping him.  
  
But this was Draco Malfoy she was talking about here, someone who would never thank her in the first place.  
  
But had he not done so just the other day as well? Ginny shook her head, hoping it would clear her tumultuous thoughts.  
  
-----------------------------------------------  
  
  


It did not but things returned to the normalcy before all this strange chain of events, well as normal as it could get for Ginny at least.  
  
Malfoy only seemed to be civil to her in class nothing more, nothing less something, which she was grateful for.  
  
He had not called her aside or talked to her personally and Ginny wanted it to be kept that way.  
  
He did seem rather distant and distracted in all his classes though. This was according to Luna.  
  
Ginny was too busy ignoring him and focusing on her potions and her upcoming Newts.  
  
Christmas was fast approaching and Ginny had been rather excited looking forward to a wonderful Christmas back home in the Burrow but her hopes had been shattered when she received an owl from her parents two weeks before the Christmas break.  
  
They were going to France to visit Fluer and her family with Bill who was going to propose to her.  
  
Ron and Harry were going along as well for a vacation.  
  
Ron was trying to get Harry to ask Hermione to come along as well but Harry, according to his letters, had outright refused telling Ron to go ask her himself if he wanted her to come that badly.  
  
So Ron was fuming mad with Harry and that would be quite unfortunate since they would be spending their entire vacation in France together.  
  
Ginny had to contend herself with spending Christmas in Hogwarts with Colin for company.  
  
  


Then two days before Christmas break when Ginny was just beginning to think that her last year at Hogwarts was going to be a peacefully uneventful one Potions lesson took an unexpected turn.  
  
They had entered the lesson five minutes early because Malfoy, as all the seventh year Gryffindors called him in private for he was only a year older than them, was a stickler for punctuality despite his recent restlessness.  
  
However he was not there as he usually was.  
  
The rest of the class filed in and fifteen minutes later Malfoy still had not arrived. There seemed to be no relief teacher arriving to take over like the last time he had been absent.  
  
"Must be in his room drunk." Colin joked grinning smugly.  
  
Ginny laughed, the laugh not reaching up to her eyes for she wondered if he was out cold somewhere.  
  
And so what if he was? What was it to her? He was a Malfoy after all, bad attitude and all so why was she worrying about him?  
  
Because he appeared to have a heart enough to thank her?  
  
Twenty minutes passed. The class was getting loud and raucous with no signs of Malfoy arriving.  
  
'I suggest we go find him." Ginny leaned towards Colin who was in an arms lock with a Slytherin and was obviously losing.  
  
''WHAT? Are you mad! I'm just about to beat this guy."  
  
Colin grunted as he tried to push the boy's hand down but only got his twisted back even further.  
  
His face contorted in pain. Ginny grimaced for him.  
  
"Look, the class is getting out of hand and I mean in a bad way. They're hexing one another already."  
  
Ginny pointed to a couple of Slytherin and Gryffindors who seemed to be having wizard duels.  
  
Colin glanced around in the direction Ginny pointed, losing his focus and having his arm promptly twisted back on the table with a loud 'thump'.  
  
"Ow!" He cried out, trying to glare at the Slytherin who walked off to his seat smirking.  
  
Giinny gave him a pointed 'I told you so' look.  
  
"Fine! Fine ! Let's go find him!"  
  
Colin threw his hands in the air exasperated as he followed her muttering about unfair cunning Slytherins and crazy Gryffindors. Ginny knew which category she fell in.  
  
She walked towards Malfoy's room, knocking on his door.  
  
Colin stood behind her silent with tension.  
  
She could hear voices coming from within but there seemed to be no one answering the door.  
  
Just as she was about to raise her hand to knock the door again, the door was flung open as Malfoy stood there looking strangely different.  
  
Ginny realized why instantly.  
  
His hair was not slicked back but disheveled and his robes looked like they had been just thrown on and looked crumpled and bedraggled.  
  
"Miss. Wealsey." He stared down at her, not with anger though but with great relief.  
  
Relief so great that he smiled manically scaring the wits out of Colin who murmured something about maniacal Slytherins into Ginny's ear.  
  
Malfoy however hardly noticed. In fact with the way he was looking at Ginny it seemed as if he barely even noticed that Colin was standing there.  
  
Not that Ginny herself had heard what Colin had been muttering.  
  
The way Malfoy was looking at her, as if the whole world at the moment was filled with her and her only.  
  
It made her feel as if it was getting harder to breathe, as if she had just run around the whole castle.  
  
This was Malfoy, she reminded herself and her Professor as well. She was just being delusional.  
  
Thus, controlling the direction of her thoughts, she spoke up,  
  
'Professor, you have a class-"  
  
"I know." He interrupted, impatiently and suddenly very anxious as if he had come to his senses, which he just had.  
  
Those brown eyes never failed to entrance him especially when they were looking at him with such great concern just like that day at Hogsmead.  
  
Had he just thought that about a Weasley's eyes in that way? Come to think of it, he had been thinking about her in that vein during the past few days.  
  
Was he finally going mad? Oh well, no time for than now. There were matters of greater urgency to deal with.  
  
"I have a family emergency of some kind." He continued, glancing at the fireplace inside his room.  
  
Ginny following his glance realized that somebody's head was in it, no one she could recognize though.  
  
"I need to leave for a while to attend to it." He explained,  
  
"So could you- could you, you know-" He seemed to be struggling very greatly to ask what he wanted to ask.  
  
Ginny saw the nervousness in those murky gray eyes and knew what he wanted. Deciding to not to beat around the bush since this seemed to be a matter of great urgency for him.  
  
"You want me to cover for you?" She asked outright.  
  
He was grateful for her directness as it saved a lot of precious time. Colin however was taken aback by the direction of the conversation.  
  
First all Malfoy seemed to be more than civil to Ginny. Colin could be dense but this was not one of those times. He got the distinct sense that Malfoy seemed to be treating Ginny as more than a student or even an enemy but as a friend.  
  
"Yes, please could you disperse the class and tell them this a free block and could you pass this note to Professor Dumebledore. He'll understand."  
  
As Draco was giving instructions to Ginny, he stepped back into his room, scribbled something on a piece of parchment and passed it to Ginny.  
  
"That's all?" She asked ignoring Colin who was watching all this with his jaw nearly scraping the ground.  
  
Draco nodded. Before he could say anything more or even thank her, she was off, striding down the corridor Colin at her heels.  
  
"Colin, go give this to Dumebledore." She thrust the note in his hands as they neared as the stairs leading up to the potions classroom.  
  
"I'll handle the class."  
  
Just as she were about to walk off, Colin grabbed her by her arm stopping her.  
  
"Gin? What's all this about? Why are you helping Malfoy? Are you alright?" He asked, concerned, putting a hand to her forehead as if to check if she had a fever.  
  
She shrugged pushed his hand away.  
  
"I'm fine. He's our professor and he's been nothing but civil to us if you were to think about it." She explained, her voice tinged with exasperation.  
  
Colin was not satisfied. He still had a dubious expression on her face.  
  
"I'm just being a civic minded student." She added. Colin was not convinced but she was already walking away leaving him in his numerous doubts.  
  
-----------------------------------------------------  
  
  


"I'm telling you, Lu. Something is going on." Colin insisted two nights later as he helped his friend carry her bags down to the Grand Entrance.  
  
Luna was going home for the Christmas break while he and Ginny stayed behind.  
  
Most of the school population were all getting ready to leave.  
  
Students bustled each other along the corridors, calling out greetings of 'Happy Christmas' as they passed each other giving the whole place a festive air.  
  
"Nothing is going on, Colin." Luna insisted for the hundredth time.  
  
They had been having this exact same conversation numerous times since that day. Colin had told her all about what had happened.  
  
"She just feels sorry for him and is trying to be kind to him. You know how Ginny is right? She's got a heart of gold beneath all that sass." Luna went on, trying to ease Colin's incessant worrying.  
  
"Talking about me?' Ginny asked, smiling sweetly as she joined her tow friends.  
  
Luna grinned at her as Colin blushed.  
  
They stepped out into the frigid cold winter night, carriages already lining up the path.  
  
Colin helped heft a piece of luggage into the one of the carriages. He had developed pretty nice muscle thanks to all the quidditch.  
  
"Well, see you then Gin. Take care and be good." Luna emphasized the last word as she huuged her friend tightly.  
  
Ginny grinned, as they broke apart.  
  
Luna turned to Colin and hugged him as well much to his delight.  
  
"Keep an eye on Ginny and don't nag her to death." She murmured into his ear before breaking apart.  
  
Colin gave her an indignant look.  
  
Suddenly loud popping noises filled the air.  
  
At first all three of them assumed that it was someone letting off Flitzworks Fireworks in the spirit of the moment.  
  
But a trail of iridescently bright sparks shot up into the clear yet starless night sky with a crackling sound.  
  
Everyone gathered in the entrance stared up watching and wondering. Excited murmurs spread through the crowd.  
  
The trail of sparks made a few pretty swirls in the air and exploded into a bright flash of multi colored sparks attracting gasps of awes from everyone.  
  
Even some of the professors had come out to watch this surprise display that they assumed they had not been informed about.  
  
The show was not over though; the bright trial of sparks burst again with a flurry of color this time forming huge words in the sky, words that probably meant something to the one person it was meant for.  
  
'Happy Christmas and Thank You!"  
  
A Ravenclaw girl nearby read the words above glittering brightly in the sky out loud. The words hung in the air for a few minutes before fading away.  
  
There was scattered applause among the crowd below. Up in the towers, people in the different common rooms had their faces glued to their windows having been watching the display.  
  
Everyone assumed it was done by some boy for a girl he obviously liked quite a bit.  
  
Luna however thought differently.  
  
She turned to Ginny standing beside her, smiling delighted by the beautiful display and absolutely clueless as to who it was meant for.  
  
"That was the work of Malfoy." Luna murmured loud enough for only Colin's and Ginny's ears.  
  
Colin gaped at Luna catching her drift immediately. Ginny however was a bit slow on the uptake this time.  
  
"What? For who?" She asked bewildered.  
  
Luna looked at her disbelieving. How could someone so clever be so dense at times?  
  
"For you, of course." Colin spoke, taking the words right out of Luna's mouth.  
  
Now it was Ginny's turn to gape at them.  
  
"Don't be ridiculous you two! He's our professor for Merlin's sakes! Luna, you and your stupid theories." Ginny argued, her Weasley temper flaring.  
  
The idea of Malfoy doing something for her of this magnitude even if it was out of gratitude unnerved her quite a bit.  
  
"Fine, don't say I didn't tell you so though." Luna said, not wanting to leave with her best friend angry with her.  
  
Ginny nodded, claming down instantly.  
  
"You will see how wrong you are." She insisted stubbornly as Luna got into the carriage.  
  
Unfortunately Ginny would never really find out if that beautiful display was meant for her, not just yet anyway.  
  
Otherwise her whole world would have turned upside down, but that is exactly what love does. It changes everything.  
  
--------------------------------  
  
  


A/N please review review please. 

DawnieAngel76: I am glad you found it funny..the fluffiness wont start anytime soon I don't know really but do keep on reading..its reviews like yours that keep me wiriting.  
  
Nostamoon: There was no other suitable way to call Harry..im glad you liked it..Id rather Draco be all agnsty and mellow..you'll find out the reson for his sudden change soon enough.  
  
Wizzabee: Thanks mate your are my most loyal reviewer..and could you tell me how do I retain the same format I type my chapter in when I upload it..like the italics and the bold laters and even the spacing.. Do you know?  
  
Write-on3108: Glad you liked it this time and thanks for the constructive critsicm the previous time..hope its inst so confusing..just some unanswered questions that Ginny muses about in this chappie..keep reviewing..  
  
Oh and I am looking for an wonderful beta reader.any volunteers please email me..thank you..  
  
Please review,,if I get lesser and lesser reviews I might stop wiritng..hehe..blackmail again..always works..no flames.. dun think my tender heart can handle it..


	6. No Such Thing

No Such Thing 

"Welcome to the real world", she said to me  
Condescendingly  
Take a seat  
Take your life  
Plot it out in black and white  
Well I never lived the dreams of the prom kings  
And the drama queens  
I'd like to think the best of me  
Is still hiding  
Up my sleeve  
  
They love to tell you  
Stay inside the lines  
But something's better  
On the other side  
  
I wanna run through the halls of my high school  
I wanna scream at the  
Top of my lungs  
I just found out there's no such thing as the real world  
Just a lie you've got to rise above  
  
So the good boys and girls take the so called right track  
Faded white hats  
Grabbing credits  
Maybe transfers  
They read all the books but they can't find the answers  
And all of our parents  
They're getting older  
I wonder if they've wished for anything better  
  
While in their memories  
Tiny tragedies  
  
They love to tell you  
Stay inside the lines  
But something's better  
On the other side  
  
I wanna run through the halls of my high school  
I wanna scream at the  
Top of my lungs  
I just found out there's no such thing as the real world  
Just a lie you got to rise above  
  
- John Mayer (LOVE HIM!)

"HAPPY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!" 

Ginny crowed, landing with a muffled 'thump' on Colin's bed. 

He simply rolled over and continued snoring. 

Ginny rolled her eyes at his laziness and leaned down, right beside Colin's ear,

"IT'S CHRISTMAS MORNING, TIME TO WAKE UP!!!!!" She roared. 

He sat up, disgruntled and extremely annoyed. 

"What is wrong with you?!? It's a crime to be this hyper in the morning." Colin stated, frowning. Ginny returned his frown with a sickly sweet smile, "It's Christmas, mate. You've presents to open." 

Colin shook his head, but smiling nonetheless at the sight of a rather handsome pile of presents at the foot of his bed, "Opened yours?" He asked.

"Summoned them here," 

With that they proceeded with their yearly ritual of ripping the wrapping paper apart, gasping at cool or special ones (A photograph of the entire Chudley Canon Team, signed by everyone of them from Harry); or groaning with disappointment at the ones that did not really meet up to expectations (Fred and George's cockroach clusters) or smiling at the expected ones (a _book_ about writing poems from Hermione).

"What's that?" Colin asked, pointing to a brown package at the bottom of all their torn wrapping paper.

"I don't know." Ginny pulled it out, the brown wrapping paper rustling in the silence of the room. Colin was the only male seventh year Gryffindor staying for the holidays.

"Who's it from?" Colin, seated on the floors across from Ginny, took the package from her. 

He turned the package over, looking at it this way and that way, even lying flat on his back and trying to look at it, sending Ginny into giggles. There was no sign on it that indicated who it was from.

"Open it you, git," She gasped through her laughter at Colin's stupidity. 

She knew he just acted up sometimes, he had said so himself. He liked making other people laugh. It gave him a rush, especially when it was his friends.

He ripped it open. Ginny gasped in admiration at the silvery red cloak that tumbled on the floor.

"Oh my, Ginny," Colin murmured in a hushed voice. 

Ginny suddenly realized what it was. She had seen Harry disappear under a similar one for so many years that she knew instantly what it was.

"An invisibility cloak," She whispered, fingering the cloak, which was strange to the touch, like water.

"And for you," Colin added. Ginny jerked her eyes from the admirable cloak to Colin, questioning. He held out a small white square piece of parchment to her.

"_Happy Christmas, Virginia_," It read. 

Ginny's breath caught in her throat. 

No one called her Virginia, only her parents but that was when there were angry. 

_Virginia_. 

That made her feel, like those dreamy romantic heroines in the books she read and lived vicariously through. 

"Could be Hamilton, though I don't think he's capable of such mystery and romanticism." Colin offered his opinion. 

Ginny nodded, her face still very flushed. She was obviously enthralled by this gift, having always envied Harry for owning one. 

"If you don't like it, you could always give it to me you know." Colin suggested, teasingly. 

Ginny glared at him, "Don't even think that!" She growled.

"Aaah! Growling Ginny," Colin got to his feet as quickly as it was possible under the weight of all the shreds of gift wrapper, "run!"

"Yeah, _Collie_!" Ginny teased, adding a few growls for dramatic effect. 

Colin took off, out of the room, Ginny right behind him, pillow in her hand to hit him when she caught him. 

The sight of two seventh years cashing each other around the common room on Christmas day did not faze the other Gryffindors. 

"She's a Weasley." Was the ready explanation to any bewildered glances (even the first years were aware of the crazy Weasley reputation) at their direction. 

Looking over in their direction Ginny let out another snarl, and attacked Colin again.

-------------------------------------------------------------

"Col-col!" Ginny called out, as she sat in the armchair by the fireplace waiting patiently for her best friend who was taking longer than usual even for a girl to dress up.

"Col-col?" Colin asked, bemused by the nicknames Ginny came up for him.

"Yes, Col – col, finished your makeup?" Ginny teased mercilessly. Colin rolled his eyes at her as he followed her out of the common room towards the Grand Hall.

As they entered the Grand Hall for lunch, they found that the house tables had been moved against the walls and that a single table set for fourteen stood in the middle of the room. Professors Dumbledore, Maconagall, Sprout, Paulo (DADA professor) and Draco were there.

 There were only five other students there: two third years, three Hufflepuffs and a Slytherin.

"Merry Christmas!" said Dumebledore, as Colin and Ginny approached the table.

"As there are so few of us, it seemed foolish to use the house table…sit down, sit down!" 

The only two empty seats were beside Malfoy at the end so they sat down side by side, Colin sitting beside him quite reluctantly but rather himself than Ginny. 

"Tuck in!" He advised the table beaming around proudly. Ginny helped herself to the mashed potatoes, feeling as if someone was watching her, only to glance around and meet glassy grayish eyes. 

Colin was too busy eating to notice this, so he got quite a shock when Malfoy spoke, "So how was your Christmas?"

 He seemed to be addressing both Ginny and Colin. 

When Colin realized that Malfoy was addressing him with utmost civility, he choked on his chipolata. 

Ginny thumped him on his back, as he gulped down his pumpkin juice. 

She raised her eyes to meet Malfoy's gray ones, dancing with mirth. 

Her lips twitched as well. 

For a moment, she forgot that Colin was barely recovering beside her, or that Dumebledore was inquiring about Colin's welfare or that the entire table was watching them.

 It was just her and Malfoy, enjoying this thoroughly amusing but private moment. 

As she snapped out of her reverie, she realized how surreal the whole thing was.

"I'm fine," Colin gasped back. Dumebledore nodded, turning to the other students, urging them to eat.

"As I was saying," Draco continued.

"Great, Fine." Colin replied curtly. There was a slight pause that Ginny took as the end of that brief conversation.

"Miss. Wealsey," Professor Malfoy leaned forward, looking past Colin at her. 

She reacted rather well, calmly looking back at him. She presumed he was referring to his earlier question.

"Same here," she said nonchalantly 

"I detest that phrase," Flitwick who was sitting beside Draco, probably the only member of the staff who could tolerate him, squeaked. Ginny smiled amused. Even Colin laughed a little.

"It was good as well." Ginny rephrased her answer in a bid to humor Professor Flitwick who nodded approvingly.

"Actually it was better than good, Gin." Colin commented. 

Now it was Ginny's turn to gape at him. What _was_ he talking about?

Malfoy shot him a bemused but quizzical look, even McGonagall was looking their way.

"Ginny got an invisibility cloak." 

There were gasps of awe from everyone at the table except Malfoy who just kept looking at Ginny's horrified face, his own blank and expressionless.

"My, that's a great gift." Professor Dumebledore commented, peering down at her behind his half moon glasses. 

Ginny nodded, swallowing hard.

"Now wandering around after hours in it like Mr. Potter did." Professor Maconagall warned lightly. 

Ginny nodded, not daring to speak for if she did she would start screaming at Colin who by the way was looking rather strangely at Malfoy beside him.

**A/n** -- sorry that this chapter took so long to come up…my com was down and still is…actually…hope you like it,,and review PLEASE..do check out my other tow short story fic..For D/G lovers please read and review 'Harder to Breather'.

For those who like H/G as well…please check out 'Only Love Can do.'..

This chappie goes out to my wonderfullest beta reader – **_Kat_**! You rock..this chappie goes out to you mate…for tolerating all my demands and idiosyncracies…and waiting while my com is down…

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**Ainur Agar**: Thanks..i tried and it WORKED!!! Yeah…read and review can???

**Wizzabee**: Yeah ill be updating more frequently but you must promise to keep reviewing and thanks for the tip..oh and I agree about Darco being a HOT!HOT! man..when I think of him I think of the Giordano model who so looks like the grown up version of him sans the blonde hair..i could send you a pic if you want?? Family emergency will be explained soon..patience is an underrated virtue my ardent reviewer…

**LunaMagic**: I love my story too! Sorry a bit egocentric…today only.. managed to do it…

B**earrie**s: Will try and email you but the plot thickens some more..i hope..

**Write-on3108**: I love it that you're lovin it..as my beta reader says can you feel the love???? Hehe..

**Elfgirl**: Here's the next chappie..

**RosyCheeks**: I'm glad you find my story funny..i personally think it lacks just that – humour… a nice serving of fluff coming right up, mate…

**Sapphire-Honey**: I'm glad you liked Draco as a teacher and I actually thought of bringing this story out of Hogwarts but my com broke down and I started to think and I realized I did not want to do that..cos that would make it like any other D/G fic..i think the professor student angle made it all the more complicating…hehe..and scandalous..as my beta reader said..

**Cavaradossi**: I  didn't thank you in my last chappie for the review but thanks and do continue reviewing..and reading..

**San-san**: I don't think this is a great story though.The author of 'footprints' (a D/G fic) writes super well..you should read hers..

**Mynuet**: No problem I tried that and it worked..hope u continue reading it

**Eve**: I already have one glorious beta reader..but I don't mind another one..so please email me..thanks..

**Channy**: Really? Fallen in love with my story or with gorgeous Draco?? Hehe

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**DaDawnofAges**: Just email me if you want to be a beta reader..as many people as I have working with me, the better it is....no worries be happy…Plain original of course..wat if I told you that there will be both…angst and fluff..woven together smoothly I hope…keep reading

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**Write-on3108**: Chill mate..A beta reader is some one who proof reads and edits your story for you and tolerates all your idiosyncrasies as well..

**dracoscutie:** u can email me please at nutsaboutremus@hotmail .com

Everyone to contact me, please email me at nutsaboutremus@hotmail.com

 Next chapter – Colin's stupid theory.. Ginny wandering around at night …stay tuned…


	7. Everywhere

****

**Everywhere**

****

****

**_Turn it inside out so I can see   
The part of you that's drifting over me   
And when I wake you're never there   
But when I sleep you're everywhere   
You're everywhere _**

**_Just tell me how I got this far   
Just tell me why you're here and who you are   
'Cause every time I look you're never there   
And every time I sleep you're always there _**

**_'Cause you're everywhere to me   
And when I close my eyes it's you I see   
You're everything I know that makes me believe   
I'm not alone   
I'm not alone _**

**_I recognize the way you make me feel   
It's hard to think that you might not be real   
I sense it now, the water's getting deep   
I try to wash the pain away from me   
Away from me _**

**_'Cause you're everywhere to me   
And when I close my eyes it's you I see   
You're everything I know that makes me believe   
I'm not alone   
I'm not alone _**

**_And when I touch your hand   
It's then I understand   
The beauty that's within   
It's now that we begin   
You always light my way   
I hope there never comes a day   
No matter where I go   
I always feel you so _**

**_'Cause you're everywhere to me   
And when I close my eyes it's you I see   
You're everything I know that makes me believe   
I'm not alone   
'Cause you're everywhere to me   
And when I catch my breath it's you I breathe   
You're everything I know that makes me believe   
I'm not alone _**

**_You're in everyone I see   
So tell me   
Do you see me? _**

**_- Michelle Branch (Her only nice song)_**

****

****

_"Ginny got an invisibility cloak." _

_There were gasps of awe from everyone at the table except Malfoy who just kept looking at Ginny's horrified face, his own blank and expressionless._

_"My, that's a great gift." Professor Dumbledore commented, peering down at her behind his half moon glasses. _

_Ginny nodded, swallowing hard._

_"Now wandering around after hours in it like Mr. Potter did." Professor Maconagall warned lightly. _

_Ginny nodded, not daring to speak for if she did she would start screaming at Colin who by the way was looking rather strangely at Malfoy beside him._

"It was Malfoy." Those were Colin's first words as they made their way into the Entrance Hall.

"Huh?" Ginny was genuinely bewildered.

Colin sighed, talk about him being slow. "The Invisibility cloak was given to you by Malfoy." He stated matter of factly.

"WHAT?!" Ginny yelled out loud, not caring if those in the Hall would hear her.

"Are you out of your mind or something? Are you trying to come up with Luna's crazy theories? No Professor would give a student something like that! Especially_ not_ Malfoy!" She muttered through gritted teeth, her fame as red as her fiery hair. 

She was sick of this tirade but yet a nagging doubt surfaced in her mind. Who else could it be? 

Colin just shook his head, a little scared but somehow feeling he was right. 

Ginny could be rather naïve and innocent at times. He would keep an eye on Malfoy for her. 

That was the least he could do as a friend. Hopefully this was not some sick ploy Malfoy had up his sleeve to torture Ginny. 

That night, Ginny leant over her bed and pulled the Cloak from under it. She let the material flow over her hands, smoother than silk, light as air. 

She wanted to try it now. 

She slipped out of the bed and wrapped the cloak around herself. 

Looking down at her legs, she saw only moonlight and shadows. It was a funny feeling. 

Suddenly, she felt wide-awake. She could wander around the whole of Hogwarts in this without Filch knowing. 

She crept out of the dormitory down the stairs across the common room. 

She paused wondering if she should wake Colin up but no, she wanted to do this alone. 

After all, this cloak was meant for _her_.

She climbed through the portrait hole. 

The Fat Lady used to all the mysterious comings and goings of Gryffindors that she could not see, did not ask or say anything. 

Ginny walked slowly down the corridor, drawing the Invisibility Cloak tight around herself.

Where could she go?

 The lake seemed a good idea, the open air of the winter night. 

She walked towards the tree she, Colin and Luna usually sat under, which was right beside the lake. 

She noticed though someone else sitting there; someone whose icy blonde hair, glinted in the moonlight.

 Ginny froze a few feet away, barely breathing. 

It was Malfoy, gazing at the Forbidden Forest, beyond the lake. 

His legs stretched out and crossed at the ankles, leaning against the tree tuck. 

He turned to look around then and Ginny stiffened, wondering if he could see her.

 She turned, darting away as fast as she could move without making any noise. 

She realized something as she stepped into the Grand Entrance. 

There was a trail of footsteps in the snow that were small enough to be distinctly hers; leading all the way from the spot Draco was sitting at to right where she was standing. 

There was nothing she could do about it. An insurmountable feeling of dread overwhelming her, she went back up to the dorm.

**_A/N note_: **

**Thanks goes out to my darling little beta reader, Kat (whose young mind I have successfully polluted hehe) for her wonderful emails and editing..**

**Though I don't mind another one..sincerely**

**Sorry that I cannot respond to your reviews separately. I am doing this without my internet connection on.**

**A response to all your screaming at me not turn this story into a sappy ginny harry fic,I will say this:**

**It was an empty threat to get more reviews…**

**So you can rest your fears about this turning into a h/g story…**

**Just curious though..but am I the only one who likes both harry and giiny pairing as much as draco and ginny??**

**I must be weird, I know because I really want harry and ginny to be together forever but the idea of draco and ginny also appeals to me..Let me know okay? **

**Yes, I should stop being a review Nazi but reviews make me feel good and tell me that I am on the rite track..besides one of the important factors in being an excellent writer is in getting constructive feedback…so just review for my sake, to make this pathetic soul happy…Thank you.. **

**For all your other questions about Snape, Draco's family emergency, etc etc – all will be revealed in due time whether in the next chapter or ten chapters from now, I can't tell you so keep reading to find out…**

**Short chappie this one was, I know but next chapter will be MUCH longer..promise…Fanfic writer's honour….**

**Draco _IS_ ooc…and there is a reason for this.. After all nobody cannot not soften up and have his character mutate after going through what he has and trust me, you don't know half of it – will be revealed in due time..**

**So sit back, enjoy, read and REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

**__**

**Meanwhile to keep your  ferocious appetites sated until the next time I update please check out my OTHER stories:-**

**_Also for all Harry Ginny lovers please check out my other stories-_**

1. **Only Love can do** ¨C a two part story about love lost and found again..based on that song but NOT a song fic

2. **Love Conquers All** ¨C a novel length completed story on Harry and Ginny¡¯s love conquering All and of course Voldermort¡­or will it? What about Ginny¡¯s dark past life? Will they realize their love for each other?

3.** A Wizard's Debt – Just that? Why does Harry owe Ginny one? How did Ginny save him?**

**__**

**_For those opneminded enough like me who love Draco Ginny fics as well..Check out-_**

1. **Harder to breathe **¨C a one shot fic based on the song BUT not a song fic

**_Next chappie_ – **

**A tall, handsome, brown haired, hazel eyed someone enters Ginny's life….Who is he? oh and an _interesting_ game of truth and dare..hehe..**

**A SNEAK PREVIEW BELOW –**

_"Truth or Dare?" Luna asked.___

_"Dare." Ginny replied, impulsively.   Luna cocked an eyebrow at her, a wicked grin on her face.___

_"Well, well let's see." Luna looked thoughtful, the wicked grin still on her face scaring Ginny more than ever.___

_"I know!" Luna looked as if she had discovered the Elixir of Life._

**SO STAY TUNED!!!!!!**

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**This time no less than twenty reviews and no next chapter and no mint choc ice cream (hopefully its snowing in your country so it does not melt in the post) Now I don't threaten but bribe with gift..How about that for a change of tatic..hehe..**

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	8. A Little Respect

A little Respect 

_I tried to discover a little something to make me sweeter  
Oh baby refrain from breaking my heart  
I'm so in love with you  
I'll be forever blue  
That you give me no reason, you know you're making me work so hard  
That you give me no . . . Soul  
I hear you calling  
Oh baby please give a little respect to me.  
  
And if I should falter, would you open your arms out to me?   
We can make love not war, and live in peace with our hearts  
I'm so in love with you, I'll be forever blue  
  
_

  
What religion or reason could drive a man to forsake his lover?   
Don't you tell me no. . . Soul.   
I hear you calling  
Oh baby please, give a little respect to me.  
  
I'm so in love with you  
I'll be forever blue  
That you give me no reason  
You know you're making me work so hard  
That you give me no. Soul.   
I hear you calling.   
Oh baby, please give a little respect to me.   
Oh baby, please give a little respect to me.

- _Wheatus___

"Ginny!" Colin turned around first, Luna's suitcase in his hand. Ginny took her time turning to look around. Luna was already smiling smugly.

"Jake." Ginny stated as a form of greeting. 

He drew up in front of her, his dark hair tousled all over his good naturedly handsome face, his hazel eyes glinting with pleasure.

"I forgot to give you my Christmas present." He smiled shyly, holding out a small box wrapped in blue paper. 

It would have been decent enough for her two friends to leave but they insisted on standing there at the landing of the stairs leading up to the dorm. Ginny chose to ignore them.

"Thank you." Ginny smiled politely at the cute boy in front of her that try as she much could not feel excited about in that way. 

She found him handsome, no doubt there, but he was not attractive to her. There was no chemistry or flying of sparks. Sadly, only she seemed to notice.

"Aren't you going to open it?" He asked her. 

Ginny smiled and pulled at the white ribbon on the top of the box. 

"My Mom did the ribbon for me." Jake said.

She tore the blue paper away from the black velvet box. Carefully she held it in her palm once the paper was off. 

"Open it." He urged.

"I'm scared." Ginny let out a nervous laugh. He smiled a handsome one, bemused.

"Don't be," he reassured her. 

Putting her hand on his forearm, she expected to feel some rush or jolt at his touch but nothing except a faint tingling. 

Her pulse though was increasing. Perhaps. He would do for now, till her knight in shining armour came along, later.

What the box held was typical or miraculous depending on the eye.

It was typical because he was a seventeen-year-old boy or it was miraculous. 

He had given her half a heart. It was gold and from inside his cloak, he pulled out the other side. It hung around his neck on a rawhide cord.

 Ginny flushed. She could hear Luna gasp dreamily beside her.  

She looked up at his anticipating eager face. Students were moving beside them, slowly as if to catch what was going on but Ginny barely noticed. She leaned towards him, meaning to kiss him.

"Move along, don't block the stairs." Malfoy's clear authoritative voice filled the air as he swept by them, his dark robes billowing about him. 

This was the first time Ginny was seeing him since that night, two days ago.

Ginny drew away startled, Jake mildly disappointed. Luna was incredulous while Colin grinning sheepishly. 

They took off at the furious look Ginny shot them. 

She turned to Jake, her smile gentle, almost tender. He was sweet, wanting nothing more than to be with her.

"Thank you." She said again.

"Next Hogsmead weekend, will you go with me?" He asked, pleadingly. 

Ginny nodded, not having the heart to refuse.

"We'll manage." Colin made a mock anguished face. Luna just shook her head. 

"Go on. Have fun Gin." Luna called out as Ginny raced down the stairs to meet Jake who was meeting patiently at the foot of staircase. She was five minutes late.

"Hey." She breathed, coming up beside him. 

His face broke into one of those smiles that made most of the girls in the school go wild, the one that revealed all his pearly whites.

"You look beautiful." He said, admiring her brand new periwinkle robes. 

Ginny could not help blushing. With that he helped into the carriage and they went to Hogsmead.

As the got off the carriage, a group of Slytherin girls walked by them murmuring and glancing in their direction. 

Ginny ignored them, her chin raised as she looked away. 

She was used to all this taunting, having observed Harry suffer them through his years at school. 

"How do you do that?" Jake asked, a hint of admiration in his voice.

"Do what?" Ginny asked, puzzled.

"Act as if you don't care if those girls are talking about you or not."

"That's because I _don't_ care." She answered, simply.

He led the way to Three Broomsticks for which Ginny was thankful, hating the stuffiness of Madame Pudiffoot. 

As they sat a table near the front door, after ordering their butterbeer, they made awkward conversation. 

The loud clanking of the open door filled the noisy air as Malfoy stepped inside. 

Ginny paled slightly, having suffered from the intent piercing looks he had been giving her the past week as if he knew that she was the one who had been out there, that Christmas night. 

Jake noticed the look on her face and turned around to see Malfoy standing at the entrance, scanning the place with his cold gray eyes. 

His eye met Ginny's for a fraction of a second before flitting away as he turned around and left.

"He seems to have mellowed a bit hasn't he?" Jake pointed out casually. Ginny nodded, relieved that she had not been the only to notice. 

Her first date with Jake went relatively well. They kissed at the end, outside the gryffindor dormitory.  

It was not breathtakingly romantic. It had been disappointingly like all her other first dates, giving her a great sense of déjà vu.

"I would never want to get married."  Luna stated that night, staring ahead up at the starless sky.

"Why?" Ginny asked, softly, sitting beside her. 

They were up in the astronomy tower. It was deserted at this late hour. 

Her invisibility cloak which was being put to good use lay between them. 

They were having one of  their 'girl talk' sessions so Colin had known better than to join them. 

He was last seen asleep like a dead log in the couch by the fireplace in the common room. 

He had to open the door for her to slip out. The Fat Lady had become suspicious of late of Ginny's invisible comings and goings ever since she realized Harry had left school.

"We'd get bored of each other."

"Not unless you fell in love after marriage." Ginny pointed out.

"How is that possible?" Luna asked.

"Now everyone marries because of choice." She pointed out.

"Well then I guess you have to fill your marriage with surprises and twists and turns." Ginny suggested. Luna nodded, approvingly.

"Truth or Dare?" To which Ginny nodded, even though wary. It was a game they played often together.

"I'll go first." Luna said.

"Truth or dare?"

"Truth." Ginny replied.

"Out of Jake's gift and the invisible cloak, which surprised you the most and which did you treasure the most?" Luna asked, her gaze fixated on the sky above.

"That's two questions in one!" Ginny protested, smiling.

She went on to answer the question at Luna's pointed look.

"Jake's gold heart surprised me but I treasure the invisibility cloak." She glanced fondly 

down at the cloak. It was truly useful.

"Truth or Dare?"

"Truth." Luna replied, calmly.

"Do you like Colin as more than a friend?" Ginny's question did not seem to surprise Luna who continued staring into the distance dreamily before replying,

"No, not at this moment." Ginny nodded, a smile quirking the ends of her lips. Luna was pretty honest.

"Truth or Dare?" Luna asked.

"Dare." Ginny replied, impulsively.   Luna cocked an eyebrow at her, a wicked grin on her face.

"Well, well let's see." Luna looked thoughtful, the wicked grin still on her face scaring Ginny more than ever.

"I know!" Luna looked as if she had discovered the Elixir of Life. 

Pausing for dramatic effect, "Ask Malfoy if he was the one who gave you the invisibility cloak," Luna stated, a triumphant grin on her face. 

Ginny gasped, disbelieving. She could not believe her best friend would do this to her. 

Colin must have told her about her about his stupid suspicion.

"I can't do that, Lu! Don't be ridiculous! He's our _professor_!" Ginny pointed out, feeling near hysterics.

"Well, he doesn't seem to treat you as _just_ a student." Luna pointed out, smiling smugly. 

Ginny gaped at her like a fish opening and closing her mouth. 

"By tomorrow night." Luna stated as an ultimatum.

"And if I don't?"

Luna grinned even more evilly, "We'll tell everyone that you and Professor Malfoy are having a torrid affair." She said in a sickly sweet voice dripping with malice.

 Ginny shook her head, "I don't believe this," she murmured.

"You're the one who accepted the dare." Luna pointed out as they got up and slipped the damned cloak over them. 

Ginny nodded in surrender. She had no choice. 

**A/n- **

Heloo my people…here goes the **author;s**** note**

Thank you dear darling beta reader Kat..

Sorry that the dare was not Ginny kissing Draco but you must see what will unfold from this dare…hehe..

Nd I totally agree that Harry and Hermione pairing is the most disgusting..its like incest..ugh..

Wow..i love snow..it never snows in my country.. sigh..

Oh and everyone sorry for the email address error  - its nutsaboutremus@yahoo.com to contact me..

Thank you all SOOOO MUCH for your reviews..keep it coming yeah? The more reviews I get, the faster I will update..

Hit eighty this time and you'll get another delicious update..

A sneak preview to wet your appetites­--

_"Wow." Luna looked in awe at her best friend's still shocked face as Colin finished telling her what had happened._

_"You're telling me." Colin murmured, looking at Ginny worriedly. _

_She had not said a word since they had left the dungeon which was a good half hour ago. _

_She was not even eating her lunch just shifting her food around the plate absent-mindedly._

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	9. Ain't it Funny

_Ain't__ it Funny _

**Estoy**** loca enamorada de ti   
  
  
It seemed to be like the perfect thing for you and me   
  
It's so ironic you're what I had pictured you to be   
  
But there are facts in our lives we can never change   
  
Just tell me that you understand and feel the same   
  
This perfect romance that I've created in my mind   
  
I'd live a thousand lives each one with you right by my side   
  
But yet we find ourselves in a less than perfect circumstance   
  
And so it seems like we'll never have the chance   
  
  
1 - Ain't it funny how some feelings you just can't deny   
  
And you can't move on even though you try   
  
Ain't it strange when you're feeling things you shouldn't feel   
  
Oh I wish this could be real   
  
Ain't it funny how a moment could just change your life   
  
And you don't want to face what's wrong or right   
  
Ain't it strange how fate can play a part   
  
In the story of your heart   
  
  
Sometimes I think that a true love can never be   
  
I just believe that somehow it wasn't meant to me   
  
Life can be cruel in a way that I can't explain   
  
And I don't think that I could face it all again   
  
I barely know you but somehow I know what you're about   
  
A deeper love I've found in you, and I no longer doubt   
  
You've touched my heart and it altered every plan I've made   
  
And now I feel that I don't have to be afraid   
  
  
I locked away my heart   
  
But you just set it free   
  
Emotions I felt held me back from what my life should be   
  
I pushed you far away   
  
And yet you stayed with me   
  
I guess this means   
  
That you and me were meant to be   
  
- J. Lo**

"Now," Colin rubbed his hands in glee before giving Ginny a shove forward towards the table up front where Malfoy was busy arranging the bottles the class had just submitted. 

Their potions class had just ended and Colin well aware of the dare had been urging Ginny to get it over and done especially since this was the only time that they would be seeing Malfoy today. Ginny, not surprisingly, was reluctant to do so. 

Ginny shuffled forward, knowing that Colin was right, but nevertheless turning around and shooting him dirty looks. 

He simply grinned back, a tad reassuring. He would wait for her, having to stand there and act as a witness to the whole thing. 

"Mal-Professor?" Ginny squeaked then cleared her parch dry throat, running her tongue over her dry lips. 

Malfoy looked up at her, a look of amusement and wariness. 

"Yes, Miss. Weasley?" He asked his tone unfamiliar and strange. Ginny realized why immediately. He sounded _kind_. 

"Eh-Uh-I- Oh," She stammered, nervous beyond belief, every part of her aching to turn around and walk out, to just give up. 

After all Luna would not be that mean to make her life miserable by spreading such rumors about her right?

She turned her head a bit and out of the corner of her eye saw Colin's nodding at her, urging her to get on. 

She had to do it. She had to. 

She realized not only because of the dare but also because of her own curiosity. 

She herself had been wondering if it was Malfoy since he was, despite what she told Luna and Colin, the most possible candidate. 

Thus, a paramount desire to put to rest all Luna's and her own doubts about Malfoy giving her presents and doing all those things, overwhelmed her.

She turned back to Malfoy who was smirking at the flustered red head in front of him as it gave him much delight that he suspected it was due to him that she was in such a state. 

She hated that smirk. It was made her Weasley temper rise and thus, provided her the recklessness that she so very badly needed now.

"Professor, I need to ask you." She spoke clearly, looking into his eyes, not daring to look anywhere else. 

He nodded, an indication for her to go on, even he seemed to be getting curious as to what could be making the youngest Weasley _this_ nervous.

"DidyougivemetheinvisibilitycloakforChristmas?" She asked, in an incoherent rush, her fear returning. 

Malfoy stared at her as if she was speaking gobeldegook which was what it must have sounded like. 

She could hear Colin stifle a laugh from behind. 

She took a deep breath to calm herself and the fluttering butterflies in her stomach.

"Did you give me the invisibility cloak for Christmas?" She asked. 

Malfoy's reaction, though she would never forget for a long time. As Colin would say when he narrated it to Luna later, it was classic.

Malfoy's eyes widened, pupils constricting in surprise his jaw dropped slightly, an unsightly sight for the normally icy, cool, held-together-at-all-times Malfoy. 

His hand holding the glass bottle tightened till his already pale skin seemed even whiter than his paling face. Ginny was afraid the bottle would crack.

He stared at Ginny for what seemed to be eternity. 

At first Ginny thought that he was angry that she could suggest such a thing but then she realized with a pounding heart that he was looking at her more with shock then anything else. 

Ginny was too scared to speak. Her heart seemed to be fluttering in her chest and she felt very close to a heart attack. 

"Yes." He murmured, still staring at her, his gray eyes piercing right into her soul. 

Colin did not even bother to stifle his gasp. Despite all his speculations, he had not really believed in it wholeheartedly. After all this was Big Bad Malfoy.

Ginny was way beyond shock to even react. 

She felt strangely light hearted and was sure she was experiencing one of those out-of –body experiences for she felt incredibly numb and felt as if she was observing all this as somebody else, not Ginny. 

She nodded, knowing that the dare was over and she could turn around but not doing so.

"Why?" She asked, amazed that she could think straight at such a time. 

She still felt as if somebody else was doing all the talking and thinking for her. 

He watched her face, pale yet strangely blank or someone like her, someone who wore her heart on her sleeve and was proud of it.

"I thought you might find it useful." He stated, seemingly back to himself, calm and composed. 

He had been terribly surprised by the fact that she had suspected him in the first place. 

He had underestimated her intelligence, something he would never do again. With a hint of pride, he realized how smart she was to have figured out that it was him. 

Though he knew for a fact that her friends had to have put her up to asking him, she would never have done such a thing.

He did no wait for her response, choosing to stand up and sweep out of the room, leaving her in her mind boggling thoughts and flip flopping heart.

"Wow." Luna looked in awe at her best friend's still shocked face as Colin finished telling her what had happened.

"You're telling me." Colin murmured, looking at Ginny worriedly. 

She had not said a word since they had left the dungeon which was a good half hour ago. 

She was not even eating her lunch just shifting her food around the plate absent-mindedly.

"Reciprocation is a powerful stimulant to the imagination." Luna commented, nodding towards Ginny as she spoke to Colin.

"No it isn't." Ginny snapped at her, finally coming out of her reverie.

She looked terribly peeved at Luna's knowing look on her face.

"There is no reciprocation." She argued, standing up, food forgotten. 

Grabbing her books, she stormed out of the Grand Hall. 

Colin was about to rise and follow her but Luna put her hand on his, stopping him. At his questioning look, "She has to sort it out herself." Luna explained.

Sure enough she turned up for all her lessons and sat with them for dinner, eating normally. When Luna finally broached the subject, Ginny did nothing but stiffen.

"I'm surprised he even admitted it, aren't you?" Luna asked, assuming that detached scientific air that she always used with the last things a normal person would use it with – matters of the heart.

 Ginny nodded the flip-flopping of her heart beginning. 

She glanced up at the Grand  Table. Malfoy was sitting all alone, eating his dinner, hunched over. He was obviously reading something at the same time, his pale arched eyebrows knit together in concentration. Her heart flipped some more.

"Hullo! How was today?" Jake greeted them, sliding in to sit beside her. 

He leaned over and kissed her on her cheek, something that Ginny did not mind. 

In fact his presence was a welcome distraction from the _other_ matter at hand that she did not want to think about at all. 

She went for a walk with him around the lake after dinner, talking casually about school, quidditch, their families and life after Hogwarts. He wanted to be a quidditch player. 

Then later they brought their homework up to the astronomy tower where they attempted to complete it but ended up misting the lenses of the telescopes that lined the edge when  Jake leaned over and covered her mouth with his unexpectedly. 

He was incredibly sweet, walking her back to the Gryffindor tower before heading back to his.

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**_AUTHOR'S NOTE_**

**__**

**_So how was it???  
I shortened the spacings…so that it is easier to read..thanks for the critiscm._**

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**_I wanted to reply to you each individual review but since I am using my school computer and am, in school, if I did that I would be late for my hot date with the teacher (Note the palpable sarcasm) Unlike Ginny I dun fraternize with the professors..hehe.._**

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**_Okay and the whole idea of a sneak previews and short chappies are to dangle carrots in front of you to tempt all of you to read the next chapter and REVIEW…_**

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**_This time no less than ninety five reviews…ten more only.. I mean I was so inspired by the eighty five reviews I saw today, I decided to update IMMEDIATELY_**

**_The point is the more feedback I  get, the faster I will update.._**

**_Trust me..i have almost finished this story already..hehe.._**

**_And dun forget the wonderful gelato double chocolate ice cream you will get as well…._**

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**_And now for a taste of what is about to come…._**

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_She glanced out at the long rectangular windows admiring the bright spring sunshine filtering in. _

_They had been holed up in here the whole of today, a Sunday meant to be spent out in the brilliant sunshine. _

_Almost as if the powers that be had read her thoughts, two strong muscular arms wrapped themselves around her, kisses raining on  the patch of freckled skin that joined her shoulder blades to her neck. _

_She stiffened for a moment before relaxing, her face breaking into a smile._

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**_REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW..PRESS THAT BUTTON MY FRENS…_**

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	10. Uninvited

**UNINVITED **

_Like anyone would be   
I am flattered by your fascination with me   
Like any hot-blooded woman   
I have simply wanted an object to crave   
But you, you're not allowed   
You're uninvited   
An unfortunate slight   
  
Must be strangely exciting   
To watch the stoic squirm   
Must be somewhat heartening   
To watch shepherd need shepherd   
But you you're not allowed   
You're uninvited   
An unfortunate slight   
  
Like any uncharted territory   
I must seem greatly intriguing   
You speak of my love like   
You have experienced love like mine before   
But this is not allowed   
You're uninvited   
An unfortunate slight   
  
I don't think you unworthy   
I need a moment to deliberate_

- Alanis Morisette 

"My goodness, a new year and I'm still struggling with Transfiguration," Colin sighed, placing his head on his arms to rest on the table. 

Ginny attempted to ignore him, going through her Charms notes.

Their N.E.W.T.S were coming up in four months time but the pressure was already on them to do well. 

While Luna's head was buried in a thick book about Divination, Ginny was dying for a break. 

She glanced out of the long, rectangular windows, admiring the bright spring sunshine filtering in. 

They had been holed up in here the whole day, a Sunday meant to be spent out in the brilliant sunshine. 

Almost as if someone had read her thoughts, two strong, muscular arms wrapped themselves around her, kisses raining on the patch of freckled creamy skin that joined her shoulder blades to her neck. 

She stiffened for a moment before relaxing, her face breaking into a smile.

Familiarity bred contempt after all. She was becoming so used to Jake that she had herself convinced that he was what she had wanted all this while - someone sweet and understanding who made her laugh occasionally. 

"How about a walk?" He asked straightening up and smiling down at her. 

They were becoming a regular item around the school. The handsome Hufflepuff Quidditch captain and the pretty, vivacious red head Weasley who was editor of the school paper. 

It was a normal sight to see her wearing his extra Quidditch robes and cheering him on during his games, except when he happened to be playing against Gryffindor, of course. Then she would cheer for Colin, much to Jake's wry amusement. 

The pair was envied by most of the school population "Quite possibly the most compatible and popular couple since Lily and James Potter," it was said.

"Okay," She agreed instantly, grabbing her books she left after a 'have fun' and a smirk from a disgruntled Colin and an oblivious Luna.

The couple stepped out onto the huge Quidditch field and crossed it, heading towards the lake, Jake¡¯s arm around Ginny¡¯s slender waist; her head nestled in the crook of his broad rangy shoulder. 

Insects buzzed, ecstatically around the profusion of blooming flowers, their colors so vibrant and rich they hurt the eyes. No place on earth had greener grass than that which spread like a carpet around Hogwarts.

Ginny smiled a sad, wistful smile. She was really going to miss this place.

Jake began talking about how he had stopped some slimy Slytherin, who had tried to bully his friend earlier; so Ginny closed her eyes, enjoying the warmth of spring. 

She did not see him first. _He_ saw her. 

When he saw her on his way across the field towards the greenhouses, a sigh escaped his lips. 

Not one of longing, or admiration ¡§C that would come later. This one was of wistful regret. 

He felt a hundred years old, watching her with her boyfriend; so content together and obviously so much in love. 

He, himself, had never enjoyed such innocent young love before, or such contentment, however brief. 

Her youth though, undermined her purposefulness, he had come to realize after observing her for a while. 

Her demeanor fooled many and that was what had intrigued him about her ¡§C that behind Ginny¡¯s face, with features so delicate they looked ethereal, operated a shrewd, though unscrupulously honest, mind. 

That she had a surprisingly ambitious side to her sweet and kind person. 

She was ambitious as an editor of the newspaper, something even Dumbledore had highlighted, the day that Draco Malfoy had talked to him in his office. She was also astute enough to give someone like Jake a shot, knowing his potential. 

Draco had not really caught what Dumbledore had meant by his last statement ¡§C but then again, the old man rambled a lot. So Draco had just nodded his head, politely. 

McGonnagal was right ¡§C he had become mellower. 

That was what she had told him two days ago, the highest form of a compliment he could get from her and a vast improvement from the slap on the face she had given him when he had first arrived. She had been rather mild mannered to him lately.

Draco glanced once more at Ginny, from across the field. 

Here was this girl, focused, crazy and seventeen. Her breasts were perfect small cups, her legs gangly but curved, and her eyes like flint and flower petals. Her whole life was ahead of her, unscarred and innocent. 

Draco felt a flash of envy, a desire to change that ¡§C to hurt her and to make her feel what he felt, but that evil thought vanished as quickly as it had come. It had been only a remnant of his past self.

Sighing heavily, he kept his eyes on the grass that his boots crunched as he walked.

Ginny opened her eyes and found she was looking right at Malfoy who was striding across the field, his movement panther-like and silent. 

Her heart instantly rocketed into her throat and her vision blurred for a moment. She felt her heart beginning to flutter strangely; perhaps she was having palpitations?

Ginny had seen him during their lessons, but somehow with the whole class around them and her mind on the potion that she was brewing, he did not seem to bother her so much as when she caught sight of him, alone and unexpected. 

It was those times when she felt all strange and lightheaded. 

She watched him, cutting a fine graceful figure in his robes. There was no mistaking the clean muscular lines of his shape. 

Draco¡¯s hair was au natural and ruffled slightly by the gentle breeze. She liked it that way, imitating the wildness of his spirit with swirling strands that defied control. 

He was almost a man, she realized, and not only because of his age, but also because of those lines of maturity that surrounded his eyes and mouth. 

"I want you."

"Ginny?" Jake asked, startled by her sudden statement. 

Ginny blinked in surprise. Had she spoken aloud? And to whom had she been referring in the first place? She had been thinking about Malfoy but she couldn¡¯t ­ or could she have? 

No _bleeding_ way.

Desperate for a distraction, she turned around to kiss Jake, catching him by surprise not only with her action but also with the breathtaking passion she kissed him with, that was something he was not accustomed to. 

He almost didn¡¯t believe that she had it in her ¡§C well, until today that is. 

Draco saw them as he stepped into the greenhouse, caught in a passionate lip-lock that made his throat tighten. 

Shaking off that image, he turned his back to them.

Once they broke away, breathless, Jake looked down at the girl he thought he had known. There were her gentle kisses, and her kind touch, but there seemed to be another side to her that she rarely revealed. 

"Ginny?"

The redhead smiled up at him, looping her hands around his neck. Something about her smile was not right. It was as if she was fighting with something else inside her. 

Sunlight glistened on the back of Jake¡¯s eyelashes as he stared down at her.

"I just said that I want you, that's all," Ginny grinned. 

Jake decided that it had to be the sunlight in her face and the heady scent of flowers blooming that was making him think absurd thoughts before smiling back at her.

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**My Author' s note **

**I made a grave mistake the previous chapter..I forgot to thank my dearest beta reader ¡¡ìC Kat! THANK YOU SWEETIE!!!**

**Oh and I have a new beta reader who rocks!! Presenting to you dracoscutie or otherwise known as shauna! You go girl..This hcapter would not have been possible without her..**

**I have as much fun doing this as writing my story cos it involves interacting with you, my beloved readers and reviewers! **

**Merlin, I love you guys more than Draco loves Ginny**

**The best part is unlike bloody hot and handsome Draco, I _know_ that I love you guys and your reviews.. **

**Enough of all this lovin¡¯, I am glad you find my author¡¯s note funny..i did not..perhaprs the thought of seeing my ghastly teacher took all the humour out of the otherwise hilarious situation..**

**And this story will definitely not end anytime soon**

**It has about ten chapters or so**

**I have already written the ending but will most likely rewrite it and prolong this story..**

**I still don¡¯t know how to end it..**

**Any ideas, expectations do let me know**

**So I can write otherwise and shock all of you all¡­HEHE**

**You want Ginny to break up with Jake? But he¡¯s sooo sweet..reminds me of this guy in my class that I like..actually he has the absolutely irresistible combination of Jake¡¯s sweetness and Draco¡¯s brutal intensity..hehe..am I undeniably infatuated or am I undeniably infatuated??**

**Oh and what do you mean it¡¯s either Jake or Draco? Were you referring to who gave Ginny the invisibility cloak? Cos the answer is revealed in the previous chappie..**

**Draco and Ginny with 2.5 kids, house, dog, car?**** I don¡¯t think so, hon. That¡¯s waay too normal and ordinary for my Draco..he has to have elegant extravagance just like himself, his dragon skin boots and suede gloves¡­he is a _rich_ boy you know¡­and his family life will be fraught with dinner parties, motorcades and cameras snapping wherever he goes with his family..hehe..kinda like my dream married life..Hell..i have eaten too much ice cream..**

**So review..sorry for the short chappie..but next chapter will be long..Promise and very exciting¡­scout¡¯s honor (though I am no scout..but a female who once had a crush on a scout..what was I thinking, man??)**

**Oh and thank you very much for the link to Prisoner of Azakaban..the trailers are out if you're interested..which of course you are..**

**I am utterly depressed - Lupin looks crappy in the movie..not wise, above everything else and a touch humourous..he looks as my sister say a complete geek..and he is NOT a geek..**

**Malfoy..only side profile..but I don¡¯t believe I am saying this..he looks kinda good..How old is Tom Felton? Please tell me he's my age - seventeen..**

**Emma Watson looks too old and much too pretty for her role as hermione..i mean if she looked like that Ronn would have snogged her al long while ago..(You guys do know that Emma Watson and Tom Felton are dating right in real life?)**

**Daniel Radcliff looks like Harry Potter but he's getting uglier as he grows ..how is he going to get together with Ginny (I belive that harry and ginny must be together in the real hp world) If I were her, I would go for Ron..or Malfoy..Ron looks better in this movie..the funny cute guy next door sort..**

**I am already disappointed anyway by my darling Lupin's misrepresentation in this movie..Blast!**

**So give me more reviews to cheer me up..**

Here¡¯s a sneak peek:

_She had stopped spinning but her pulse was still racing and she felt incredibly giddy as if she was still spinning as she stared up at the face of the person who had caught her in his arms._

Please check out my other fics that are similar in genre to this ¡§C if you know what I mean ¡§C the newest one Love Letter and Harder to Breathe¡­do leave reviews!

**SO REVIEW REVIEW THIS TIME....PRESS THAT DARN BUTTON..**

**AM GOING AWAY FOR THE WEEKEND SO GIMME 150 WHEN I GET BACK! THEN I WILL UPDATE! CIAO FOLKS!**


	11. Crush

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**11. Crush **

  
  
  


Ahh, crush, ahhh  
  
I see ya blowin' me a kiss  
It doesn't take a scientist  
To understand what's going on baby  
If you see something in my eye  
Let's not over analyze  
Don't go too deep with it baby  
  
So let it be what it'll be  
Don't make a fuss and get crazy over you and me  
Here's what I'll do  
I'll play loose  
Run like we have a day with destiny  
  
It's just a little crush (crush)  
Not like I faint every time we touch  
It's just some little thing (crush)  
Not like everything I do depends on you  
Sha-la-la-la, Sha-la-la-la  
  
It's raising my adrenaline  
You're banging on a heart of tin  
Please don't make too much of it baby  
You say the word "forevermore"  
That's not what I'm looking for  
All I can commit to is "maybe"  
  
So let it be what it'll be  
Don't make a fuss and get crazy over you and me  
Here's what I'll do  
I'll pay loose  
Run like we have a day with destiny  
  
It's just a little crush (crush)  
Not like I faint every time we touch  
It's just some little thing (crush)  
Not like everything I do depends on you  
Sha-la-la-la, Sha-la-la-la  
  
Vanilla skies (vanilla skies)  
White picket fences in your eyes  
A vision of you and me  
  
It's just a little crush (crush)  
Not like I faint every time we touch  
It's just some little thing (crush)  
Not like everything I do depends on you  
Sha-la-la-la  
Not like I faint every time we touch  
It's just some little thing  
Not like everything I do depends on you  
Sha-la-la-la  
Not like I faint every time we touch  
It's just some little thing  
Not like everything I do  
Depends on you****

- Jennifer Paige (gorgeous, stunning and most underrated singer)

Ginny spun around in circles, her arms held out, the invisible hands of the wind whipping through her hair, her skirt flaring out around her. 

She was spinning faster and faster, her pulse racing beyond control, waiting for the wind to finally lift her up and carry her away, up into the air. 

The wind did not catch her but two strong lithe arms did. 

_She had stopped spinning but her pulse was still racing and she felt incredibly giddy as if she was still spinning.  _

_She stared up into the face of the person who had caught her in his arms. _

_Unexpected was the first word that popped in her head she looked up and saw the face of Draco Malfoy._

Ginny sat up with a jolt, the memory of her dream painfully etched in her mind. 

**Oh No**. Oh no oh no. _Oh no oh no oh no_. 

Ginny thought to herself as she pulled her knees up to her chest. 

How in the world had this happened? What was going on? Dreaming about Malfoy was positively lethal to her mental state.

She needed a drink to calm herself.  Maybe a nice warm cup of hot chocolate would do the trick. 

She knew just the place to go: the kitchens, with house elves ready and willing to serve her. 

(Never mind what Hermione said about them, she was probably too busy with Ron to care about such things now - they had finally gotten together, much to Harry's relief.)

Ginny pulled her robes over her incongruous looking, over sized t-shirt that had belonged to Charlie many years back. She slipped on the invisible cloak, before making her way towards the kitchens. 

After tickling the pear, she stepped into the spacious kitchens. 

She leaned against the counter; waiting for her hot chocolate when the door opened and the main character of her dreams stepped in, clad in his dark silken robes. 

He stopped short at the sight of her, bedraggled and bright eyed, clutching her robes tightly around her body.

He nodded politely at her before asking the house elf who had run up him to bring him a flask of hot coffee and few cinnamon rolls. 

Ginny stood stock still, watching him bend down and talk to the elf, with his regality and noble bearing ever-present.

 As Draco straightened up, she could not help but stare at the flash of pale, yet taut looking flesh as his robes revealed his upper chest. 

She tore her eyes away, willing herself to look at anything but him. 

It was good that she did so - if not, she would have noticed him studying her with an unnervingly acute gaze, almost admiring at that. She did not feel his eyes on her – touring, analyzing, assessing.

The elf came back with Draco's cinnamon rolls, and told him that his coffee would take a moment. 

Ginny noticed the disapproving look on the elf's face as he mentioned the inefficiency of the elf in charge of the drinks. 

She stifled a giggle as the elf scurried off and Draco turned to look at her, only to find her lips pressed together in a supreme effort to stop herself from laughing. 

"You must pity the elves since have such a high demand on themselves," Draco stated, with mock somberness. 

Ginny stared at him, her laughter forgotten. She could not help concurring with his statement.. Her heart was doing that heart attack thing again.

She watched Draco bite into his cinnamon rolls; their smell was mouthwatering. Draco caught the look on her face – blatant, almost lustful, greed. 

"Want one?" He offered, smirking yet indulgence in his voice and gesture. 

Ginny hesitated before her hunger debilitated her pride and she relented, nodding.

"Thank you," Ginny murmured, biting into the cinnamon roll, and savoring its melting sensation in her mouth. 

Draco watched her as she ate; the delightful fascination on her face with each tiny bite she took, captivated him.  

_She_ was like cinnamon, he decided after a moment. Sweet and tangy all at once; fulfilling but making you want more, no matter how much you had already had. Her eyes were the same color as well.

The elf came back with their drinks, and they both took their respective mugs and left, going their separate ways.

"Luna, Can I talk to you?"

Luna, who had been walking out of the Great Hall with Colin beside her, looked up, startled at the sight of handsome, yet worried looking Jake standing in front of her. 

Ginny, she knew, was in the library – so what did her boyfriend want to talk to _her_ about? 

Luna exchanged quizzical looks with Colin before glancing back at Jake, frowning.

"Yes, what is it?" She asked him critically.

"It's about Ginny," he started, his forehead creased with worry. 

Luna nodded, indicating for him to go on. 

"She's been rather dreamy and distant this week. Do you know what's wrong? She tells me that it's nothing, but I feel, and know, that there's something more, and you're the only people she would talk to, about it," he insisted, an expectant look on his face, as he waited for his girlfriend's best friends' verdict.

 Luna's eyes narrowed warily. 

She had just been telling Colin the exact thing, but unlike the ignorant Jake, she and Colin had a vague idea behind Ginny's sudden restlessness. 

To share it with Jake, would be undoubtedly dimwitted. 

Luna glanced at Colin and they both came to a mutual and unspoken agreement that Jake should not know the real reason.

"It's the N.E.W.T.S, Jake – nothing to worry about," She smiled at him, reassuringly and Jake nodded, a tad placated.

"That's what I thought. Thanks," he flashed them his pearly whites before going off to what, Luna presumed. would be the library. 

The boy seemed crazy about Ginny, but sadly, he was not what Ginny wanted, or even needed. 

Colin and Luna were silent for a while, as they made their way up the stairs, each swamped in their own thoughts about their best friend.

"Then it's true. She _must_ like someone else," Colin broke their silence, deciding to voice his thoughts.

"More specifically, Malfoy," Luna murmured, a wistful look on her face.

"How can you be so sure?" Colin asked.

"That day when he told her that he had given her the invisibility cloak changed everything," Luna explained, 

"It was my fault, making her ask him – I should have known better, but I never really expected…" Luna trailed off, a look of utter regret and guilt on her face. 

"Hopefully, it won't last long – like her infatuation with Harry," Colin suggested in an attempt to pacify her. 

Luna looked at him doubtfully.  

She could already sense that there was something a bit more precocious about this situation, especially since Ginny was no twelve-year-old.

**A/N:**

**Hey peeps! (Dat means people) I love you guys and your reviews sooo bloody much..**

**Thanks to my darlingest beta reader Shauna**

**And my other beta reader Kat!**

**Let me see soo much to say..no idea where to start…**

**You guys must not underestimate Jake..that is all that I can say.. I know the sweet nice guys like him..this is my hint – still waters run deep..nobody's perfect and everyone has their itsy bitsy flaws…**

**I am so sorry I took so long..my dad kinda left me, my mum and my sister..so we have been going through some rough times as a family..but I am back and rocking!!!!!!!!!!!**

**I hate exams too..and I loved the way one of you guys said that my story was f---ing**

**Good..haha..you guys are so cute and encouraging..you make me want to write forever..quit school and just write fanfic..sigh..what a fantasy..**

**Hope you liked this chapter..I know I did..Ginny beginning to see Draco a bit more than just as Draco…**

**My lovelife's just a confusing as Ginny's ..worst since there seems to be no reciprocation..but that's just me and my screwed up love life..**

**Trust me Ginny has a lot in store for her.so watch out…**

**Here's a sneakie peekie-**

_"Sit," he murmured, his voice naturally commanding. Ginny complied and slipped off her cloak to settle down beside him in the soft grass. Her knees brushed against his as she sat cross-legged. _

_"It's going to rain," she said._

_"Yes it is."_

****

**170 REVIEWS THEN AN UPDATE….**


	12. Secret Garden

SECRET GARDEN 

  
  
****

**She'll let you in her house  
If you come knockin' late at night  
She'll let you in her mouth  
If the words you say are right  
If you pay the price  
She'll let you deep inside  
But there's a secret garden she hides  
  
She'll let you in her car  
To go drivin' round  
She'll let you into the parts of herself  
That'll bring you down  
She'll let you in her heart  
If you got a hammer and a vise  
But into her secret garden, don't think twice  
  
You've gone a million miles  
How far'd you get  
To that place where you can't remember  
And you can't forget  
  
She'll lead you down a path  
There'll be tenderness in the air  
She'll let you come just far enough  
So you know she's really there  
She'll look at you and smile  
And her eyes will say  
She's got a secret garden  
Where everything you want  
Where everything you need  
Will always stay  
A million miles away**

- Bruce Springsteen , The Boss.

That night, Ginny slipped on her invisibility cloak and made her way down to the lake. 

This would be her second late night trip alone, this time due to sleeplessness and this time, just like the last, she had company. 

Malfoy was sitting in her usual spot. 

Instead of turning back, Ginny was drawn to him, like metal to a particularly powerful magnet. She stood silently right beside him. 

He heard her breathing in the tranquil silence of the night, just before it began to rain. The trees too, were as still as death, just waiting for the rain to pour. 

The hazy moonlight that surrounded them seemed unreal and outside of time.

In that silent moment of intimacy they could let down their defenses and indulge themselves.

There existed nothing else in the world save the two of them.

That must have been the reason why Draco did what he did next – since they were free from prying eyes.

"Sit," he murmured, his voice naturally commanding. 

Ginny complied and slipped off her cloak to settle down beside him in the soft grass. Her knees brushed against his as she sat cross-legged. 

"It's going to rain," she said.

"Yes it is."

"I love the air before it rains."

"I love it when it does."

"The thunder?"

"Yes," he smiled surprised by her uncanny ability to pick out what he liked the best about storms.

 "The power of small things," he explained, as Ginny nodded.

"I hope it'll be a storm."

"Not likely," Draco looked skyward, at the pink tinge in the night sky, "Spring showers, summer storms," he continued. 

"I want to die during a storm," Ginny smiled, dreamily. 

She did not notice at first when Draco grew solemn.

"My father died during a storm," he stated almost matter-of-factly. 

Ginny grew as still as the air, as the fact that he was a Deatheater's son hit her in the face, like a splash of icy cold water on an indolently hot summer's day. 

There was a silence then, as she pondered his infamous reputation and family name. 

What should have been a decadence of the Malfoy family was turning out to be the beginning of Draco, as he molded into the man his father had never wanted him to be.

The first raindrop landed on Ginny's nose, trickling down onto her cheek and making him hide the incredible urge to wipe it off with his finger.  

She looked terribly sad, as if she was crying and he did not like seeing someone so innocent and so naturally ebullient, being sad.

They both stood up quickly, taking off for the castle with the raindrops falling hard on them and the leaves rustling all around them, whispering to each other. 

As they stood in the Grand Entrance, soaking wet, Draco handed Ginny the invisibility cloak, which she had forgotten in her haste. 

"Thank you," she smiled, her red hair plastered to her face. 

Her mother always told her to never run in the rain, for it soaked her even more effectively than if she had walked.

Draco shook his head, water flying everywhere from his blond hair, which was sticking out in different directions.

He looked so unnaturally young and frivolously handsome that Ginny could not help grinning at him, her lips curved into a genuine smile.

A smile that seemed to light up the entire hallway, catching Draco by complete surprise to have _her _smile _at_ him.  

He just stood there, staring in a stunned silence and was still standing there after she had walked off. 

It was then that it dawned on him, he was done for, he had fallen flat on his head, for a Weasley, a Gryffindor – and his student, at that.

"Ginny…Gin, wake up," Luna shook her friend awake during History of Magic the next day. 

By average standards, the subject itself was disdainfully mundane as indicated by Colin snoring away at the other end, but Ginny had been exceptionally sleepy the whole day. 

Something that made Luna wonder where she had been wandering around last night, and with whom. 

It seemed Malfoy had underestimated how helpful a tool the invisibility cloak would be in bringing Ginny to him. 

For Luna knew he was not astutely discerning or conniving enough to have bought her such a thing for that _sole_ purpose.

Ginny sat up looking around at the classroom, her surroundings suddenly registering in her mind.

"Lu-"

"Gin, are you okay?" Luna asked, her eyes replete with concern. 

Lately, everyone had been asking that, from Jake to Colin, but Ginny had dismissed all of them.  But now, this was her best friend and someone she could trust with her life. 

Besides, Ginny had to relieve herself of this burden to _someone_. So, she told Luna everything about those two midnight meetings and even the dream. 

Luna did not seem in the least surprised - but knowing her, she probably would have suspected so already. 

"I don't know what I feel, Luna.  I want to be his friend, but that's it. He is this ambiguous enigma who intrigues me," Ginny explained. 

Luna nodded, understanding the gravity of her friend's feelings more than she did.

"And I have this heart attack feeling most of the time," Ginny continued, clutching her chest, and looking exceptionally pale.

 Luna frowned – this was something new. 

Ginny could normally have a raging fever of a hundred and three before she complained. 

Otherwise, it would mean stopping her work and having to slow down her fast paced life, which was something Ginny did not like doing. 

She always believed that, 'when you moved, they could not get you'. 

'They', referred to her inner demons of which Ginny had several, Luna knew. One of them now being her newfound feelings for Malfoy.

The bell rang, interrupting their conversation. 

They spend a good five minutes waking Colin up and rushing over for Transfiguration, getting there barely in time much to McGonagall's disappointment (This was according to Colin, who insisted she had something against the students from her own house, because she was always sending him to detention and taking points off.)

Jake later joined the trio in the library after lunch. 

He leaned over to kiss Ginny, only getting a distracted smile in return. 

Jake attempted to exchange a pointed look with Luna, who avoided his gaze by staring into her book. 

He tried to make conversation with Ginny – but realizing that she was too absorbed in her transfiguration homework, he gave up and left. 

-@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@

"Jake!" He had been walking towards the Great Hall for dinner, when a flurry of red landed on him. Jake smiled, pulling Ginny into his arms.

"What did I do to deserve this?" He asked, looking down at her. 

"Nothing," she murmured, guiltily. 

The sight of Malfoy striding past her as she ate her dinner with Luna and Colin, had left her pulse racing; well, that and the fact that he had smiled at _her_, and _her_ only, made her want something more than just a friendship with her professor. Did she just say Professor? _He was_ her _Professor_. 

That just made things even worse, Ginny groaned inwardly. 

Feeling extremely choked, with what could only be her  pervasive desire, she walked out of the hall, only to catch sight of the perfect outlet for all this lust and confusion. 

Tall, broad shouldered, strapping and handsome Jake – the boyfriend whom she had neglected the past week.

Ginny kissed him again, with an almost indecent hunger that took him by delightful surprise. 

Jake lifted her up into his arms, her hands looped around his neck. 

He had finally gotten Ginny back. 

They skipped dinner, instead spending their time pleasuring each other under the very oak tree she and Malfoy had sat under a night ago. 

What was happening? Her cleverly planned and controlled life was careening quickly out of control. How could this happen? 

Ever since her experience in her first year, Ginny had lived her life like a dictator, controlling her life in every aspect especially her loneliness and her emotions, not allowing them to get the better of her. 

This year, about to leave Hogwarts, she had planned everything right down to her writing career. 

She had not planned for the unwelcome diversion of Malfoy.  Even her poems had become too angsty for her liking. 

"What?" Jake asked as they broke away, she was on his lap. 

The moonlight caught a wild distracted look in her eyes, one that he had never seen before but had caught a glimpse of that afternoon out in the field.

"What?" She echoed, leaning in to kiss him, silencing his questions that would make her heart wander off to where it actually wanted to be.

Jake did not protest – well his stomach did in the form of a growl. 

Upon realizing that he had skipped dinner because of her, she dragged him to the kitchens. 

He began tickling her on the way.

"A punishment for starving me," he teased.

"It's not my fault that I'm irresistible," she pouted, as they stepped into the kitchen. 

Ginny froze, Jake bumping into her from behind as he stepped in after her. 

Malfoy was leaning against the counter, his arms crossed across his chest, exuding casual elegance that was uniquely his.

"Professor," Jake greeted, a tad sheepishly, before telling the house elf what he wanted. 

He had his arm draped around Ginny's waist as they waited. Ginny was looking everywhere except at Malfoy, whom she could feel was studying them intently. 

She yawned and Jake smiled down at her affectionately, ruffling her hair. She just smiled up at him, very much aware of Malfoy's insistent stare.

 Her heart, she realized was going into an overdrive. 

She was sure that she was going to collapse and someone would have to cardio pulmonary resuscitation on her, preferably Malfoy. 

_Had she just thought that?_

She wanted to slap herself.

Jake finally got his food and they left.  Ginny was temporarily relieved.

**A/n: I got my first flame..the worst part is that I totally agree with it..my previous chapter was pretty blah..no zest in it..hope this one one has more zest..**

**i am sorry I am moving at such a meandering pace but that is usually how love proceeds at first..then its get faster and then slower and then faster..that's how real love is..never dying out..slow in the beginning and forever till the end..if it's all fast and quick in the beginning then that is also how it is going to end..**

Thanks about your concern about my family but that's just life..i guess… ups and downs all in one

**Thank you all soo much for your overwhelming response.. **

**I am not going to nag you all to review cos nowadays I really write for myself..and if guys get happy from my writing as well, then that's good..I will keep writing and making up stories since that is what I have been doing since I was six (I used to use my barbie dolls and create a whole drama).**

**I am trying to earn some cash on the side..so if you guys have any ideas let me know..any publishing companies or maagzines you know of that would publish  poems or stories for money?**

**I love all your reviews..and love the way they inspire me..just want you all to know that..**

**Hope you liked this chapter..**

**Here's a preview of next chapter:**

_Ginny did not say anything, making her feel even guiltier; plucking at the grass around her feet._

_"What happened?" she asked, her question taking him by surprise, as the answer was so vast._

_"What do you mean?"_

_"Why have you changed?" _

SO STAY TUNED 


	13. Innocent Eyes

Innocent Eyes_  
  
_ _Do you remember when you were 7?   
And the only thing that you wanted to do   
Was show your mum that you could play the piano   
Ten years have passed   
And the one thing that lasts   
Is that same old song that we played along and made my mumma cry   
  
I miss those days and I miss those ways   
When I got lost in fantasies   
In a cartoon land of mysteries   
In a place you won't grow old in a place you won't feel cold and I'll sing   
  
Da da da da da da da da da da da da   
Seems I'm lost in my reflection   
Da da da da da da da da da da da da   
Find a star for my direction   
Da da da da da da da da da da da da   
For the little girl inside who won't just hide   
Don't let me see mistakes and lies   
Let me keep my faith and innocent eyes   
My innocent eyes   
  
Do you remember when you were 15?   
And the kids at school called you a fool cos you took the chance to dream   
In the time that's past and the one thing that lasts   
Is that same old song that we played along and made my daddy cry   
  
I miss those days and I miss those ways   
When I got lost in fantasies   
In a cartoon land of mysteries   
In a place you won't grow old in a place you wont feel cold and I'll sing   
  
Da da da da da da da da da da da da   
Seems I'm lost in my reflection   
Da da da da da da da da da da da da   
Find a star for my direction   
Da da da da da da da da da da da da   
For the little girl inside who wont just hide   
Don't let me see mistakes and lies   
Let me keep my faith and innocent eyes   
My innocent eyes   
  
Under my feeling under my skin   
Under the thoughts from within   
Learning the subtext   
Of the mind   
See creation how where defined   
  
My innocent eyes  
  
I miss those days and I miss those ways   
When I got lost in fantasies   
In a cartoon land of mysteries   
In a place you won't grow old in a place you won't feel cold and I'll sing   
  
Da da da da da da da da da da da da   
Seems I'm lost in my reflection   
Da da da da da da da da da da da da   
Find a star for my direction   
Da da da da da da da da da da da da   
For the little girl inside who wont just hide   
Don't let me see mistakes and lies   
Let me keep my faith and innocent eyes   
My innocent eyes___

- _Delta Goodrem (She has a fabolous voice I tell you)_

*******

They met again the next night. Their encounters in class were civil - nothing more - giving no hint to the rest of the student population about their budding friendship.

It was a clear night this time when she went out, once again unable to sleep and too afraid to sleep for fear of the dreams that plagued her; the ones where she twirled around and around - now with no one to catch her.

She sat down beside him without him even asking. 

They were silent for a while before he finally spoke.

"You love that boy?" Draco asked.

Ginny was startled by his question, for it brought to light the very doubts she had been having. Also, it was a very personal question - but then again, their mere encounter broke all the rules and social norms that stood, not to mention the ungodly hour they met at. This gave them both the privilege of asking questions not usually asked. 

"I don't know," she answered honestly. 

"Does he know?"

"Er- I don't know…don't think so."

"Well, he loves you," Draco stated matter-of–factly.

Ginny did not say anything, feeling even guiltier; plucking at the grass around her feet.

"What happened?" she asked, her question taking him by surprise, as the answer was so vast.

"What do you mean?"

"Why have you changed?" 

"Things changed." 

"What kind of things?" Ginny prodded deeper.

"My life and my family."

"I'm glad," she blurted out.

"For?"

"Your change."

"Why?"

"So that we have a nicer Potions Professor than Snape," Ginny stated, impulsively. 

Draco's face broke into a genuine smile - one that lit up his eyes. 

**_Silver _**- that was how they looked in the moonlight as they shone with delight and mirth. She wished she could tell him so.

He laughed and so did Ginny. 

There they were, just two people sharing a laugh at one in the morning out by the lake. All the boundaries of professor and student, Gryffindor and Slytherin, Weasley and Malfoy were dissolving and crumbling in that moment of shared laughter.  

Laughter engenders love after all.

*          *          *

"Happy Valentine's Day, Ginny," Jake said, swooping down for a lingering kiss. 

Ginny turned away at the last moment so that Jake ended up only kissing her cheek. Colin noticed this from across the table and Luna elbowed him in the rib to stop staring in disbelief. 

But Jake was undeterred. He sat down beside them and dug into his breakfast. Ginny nodded to whatever Jake said, obviously not paying attention. 

She got up and motioned with her eyes toward the Grand Entrance to her two friends, who got up and followed her. 

As they met out side, the first words out of Ginny's mouth were,

"I have to break up with Jake." 

 She looked like a wreck. She barely ate and was growing thinner; her hip bones already protruded at her skirt and her cheekbones were even more evident with her cheeks hollow and face gaunt. The bags under her eyes were evident from all those sleepless nights. Ginny looked exhausted and Luna felt worried about her. Ginny could not afford to suffer a breakdown during her N.E.W.T.S, but at the way she was going that was likely.

Luna nodded, agreeing – there was no use leading Jake on.

"What?" Colin protested, shooting Luna a pointed look. 

Colin believed that Jake was the only anchor Ginny had - the one reason that prevented her from running head first into Malfoy's arms. 

But Luna knew otherwise. 

Ginny had many reasons not to follow her heart and she would never do that unless she could no longer put up a fight. She had her well-planned out future to think about, the school newspaper, which was her onus, and her N.E.W.T.S.

"I have to - I'm just using him and I don't like doing that," she said having realized that last night after her talk with Malfoy. She was not about to tell her friends this though.

"I agree. Do it as soon a possible so that you can focus on your N.E.W.T.S," Luna urged. 

At this, Ginny swallowed hard. 

The task was bound to be heart breaking. There was no way she would prolong it, however. 

She could be ambitious - but when she was aware that she was consciously hurting someone, it was more than she could bear.

*          *          *

"Jake, we need to talk," 

The dreaded words uttered by her later that night made Jake stop polishing his Firebolt and turn to her, sitting cross legged beside him in the Room of Requirement.

"About what," he said, hesitation and wariness filling his face as Ginny was wringing her hands in trepidation.

"I know," he said, all of a sudden, causing Ginny to look up at him - surprised.  

"You want to break up with me, right?" he asked, and before she could even nod or agree, he moved towards her; cupping her face in his hands.

"Ginny, you can't do that. You _need_ me," he smiled knowingly, like a father to his naïve young daughter. 

Ginny frowned, her eyebrows rising questioningly. _This_ she had not predicted.

"I _need_ _you_?" she echoed with disbelief in her voice.

Jake nodded, smiling. "You need me beside you. You need me to be part of your future," he insisted. 

Ginny shook her head. She would have laughed at the incredulity of his statements, if the situation had not been so dire.

"This was just a relationship, Jake. What has that go to do with my future? I never even thought that far ahead about us," Ginny explained. 

Jake stopped for a moment, studying her intently. It seemed as if the wheels in his head were turning. He stood up; exasperation laced his voice as he spoke.

"Fine! You don't need me but I want you! I need you, Gin!" he said, seeming to be pleading now. 

Ginny looked down towards the ground, feeling horrible. Until he continued speaking, that is.

"I mean who else in this entire school is worthy of my attentions?" he asked, throwing his hands in the air.  

Ginny blinked at him wondering if he had just said what she heard him say. It seemed that Jake's true colors were finally being revealed.

"What do you mean?" Ginny asked, her voice dangerously quiet.

 Jake, having no clue that he was digging his grave, proceeded to explain.

"Look at all the other girls around. No one's as smart, as pretty and as nice as you. I cannot have anything but the best, you know," he elucidated. 

Ginny stared up at him, far from flattered, realizing how huge his ego was. She could not believe that she had not noticed this before. 

He had not loved her - but loved the way people perceived him when he was around her. 

What was so outrageous about this was the false impression that he had been giving everyone all this while about him being _really_ in love with her. 

At least she had not done that - she had not pursued him the way he had chased after her.

"Yes, I know," she stood up. 

Her voice was cold – it was the one she used when she fought the Deatheaters last year.

Jake smiled thinking that she was agreeing with him.

Ginny walked towards him – to just a step away and jabbed her finger at his chest.

"But I seriously don't give a damn."

With that, she spun around and walked off, feeling extremely light hearted for the first time in a long while.

*     *    *     *     *    *

Luna and Colin were in shock about the latest news about Jake.

"But then again, he did seem too perfect and that's always dangerous." Luna had commented, to which Ginny had rolled her eyes. 

The news about their breakup was all over the school with several variations. The closest to the truth and the one Ginny liked best was about her slapping him and walking off. 

Jake seemed to be skulking around the place, his fan club of Hufflepuff members in tow. Ginny could not care less. It felt good being single again. She slept better for one and ate a lot more than before. The heart attack thing however refused to go ever. It had gotten worst. 

Yesterday she thought her heart was beating faster that was humanely or magically possible when Malfoy had leaned across her to point out to Colin that he had put the wrong ingredient inside his potion. As his uniquely, musky masculine scent filled the air, Ginny felt herself suffering from what she presumed was a cardiac arrest. 

That rounded up the end of the holiday season, or misery season as Colin called it, beginning with Christmas and ending with Valentine's Day (thankfully uneventful one). There was nothing else to distract them from the huge hurdle of NEWTS ahead.  Even Ginny was too tired and busy to wander around at night and thus, she did not have a chance or opportunity to speak to Malfoy outside class.

The months of March and April were horrendous. Ginny did not believe she had ever studied that much before or ever would again. That is, if they did not fail this time and have to sit for it again as Colin believed was his fate.

After the long awaited study period, the exams finally arrived. 

Ginny would never for get that last day.  Their last exam was a practical on DADA, a breeze for her because of her experience with the War last year.  The examiner was impressed with her patronus – a beautiful silver unicorn. As she walked out of the hall beaming, she found herself caught in a group hug with Luna and Colin. 

They headed out into the bright sunshine, having a whole month of school without the burden of lessons and studying before the holidays. Of course they would have to suffer through the supposedly fun and enriching after-exam activities filled with talks from people from the Ministry trying to recruit them etc etc. (One advantage of sitting for NEWTS was that it was a whole month earlier than the school examinations)

They lay sprawled under the oak tree.

"You, know we should carve our names here." Colin tapped the thick trunk lazily. Ginny glanced up at the ancient tree.

No, I don't think we should. After all this is not only ours but had been Ron, Hermione and Harry's when there were here and the Marauders' during their time." 

Luna nodded but perhaps that was because she was dozing off. She was a wee hours person, waking up at three in the morning to study.

Ginny noticed a bunch of Slytherins wandering around looking for people to bully. That brought her thoughts to Malfoy. She refused to think about him despite the warm rush she had gotten earlier when he had shot her that reassuring smile before she had begun her potions paper.

She really _did_ try.  She rubbed at the center of her chest with two fingers, and then grabbed her left wrist between the thumb and forefinger of her right hand to check her pulse rate. Something was definitely wrong with her. Her heart did actual flip-flops; it beat too fast and then too slow and if that did not mean she had some sort of condition she did not know what did.

A groan from Luna interrupted her thoughts. She was looking at Ginny and shaking her head. That was how pathetic Ginny looked.

"You really don't know. That heart attack thing you've been having? It's love." Luna crowed.

"That's what it feels like." 

Colin had to conceal his wary grin. Ginny looked close to murderous.

"You're nuts," Ginny said.

"Don't think you know everything, Lu, because let me tell you, you don't."

Luna just grinned smugly. She knew one thing though: her friend was deeply attracted to Draco Malfoy. Even Colin had come to terms with it. Ginny though, Luna knew, would rather spend a night in the Forbidden Forest than follow her heart which would lead her straight to Malfoy.

"Speak of the devil." Colin muttered, nodding towards two figures walking towards Hagrid's hut. (Ginny and her friends visited him frequently but they had not managed to do so during the last few months because of NEWTS) Ginny frowned against the sunlight, realizing that it was Malfoy and the DADA professor Paulo, a young man from Brazil.

"How about a visit to Hagrid's," Luna suggested, standing up, all of a sudden wide-awake. Her lips were twitching with what Ginny knew was her scheming smile. 

'No." She flat out refused. Too late. Colin was already standing up and it was two against one.

"Oh, don't worry, Gin. Lu will be too busy checking out the dark haired, dark eyed Adonis of a DADA professor we have." Colin reassured her as they made their way across the grounds, risking a swat on the head from an indignant Luna.

"He does not look like an Adonis. He looks like one of those Mirkwood elves." She murmured dreamily. At which Colin rolled his eyes and Ginny laughed. 

"He's married, you know." Colin reminded. Luna ignored him.

They reached the door of the gamekeeper's hut at the exact moment when the two Professors stepped out. 

"Good afternoon, Professors." Luna greeted dreamily, smiling up at Paul who smiled back politely. Malfoy just nodded, his lips in a grim line as he stood beside the other professor. His eyes wandered to Ginny standing behind Luna, beside Colin.

She was shifting from one foot to the other, looking at her shoes more than anything else. A strange longing seized him. A longing to do what with whom he did not want to think about.

"How were the exams?" Paulo was asking them, Portuguese accent lacing his words.

"Great."

"Okay."

"The Patronus part was easy." Ginny finally spoke up, looking at Professor Paulo.

He nodded, smiling.

"I can't take any credit for that now, Miss. Weasley. You learnt that from Harry Potter am I right?" He asked, having met Harry himself during one of his visits to Hogwarts. Ginny nodded, noticing the way Malfoy had flinched at the mention of Harry.

"Professor, I wanted to ask you. The theory paper when they asked about…." Ginny zoned out, watching Luna ask Paulo some question that she obviously already knew the answer to. She caught Colin's eye and they exchanged bemused grins. 

"And how was potions?" Ginny turned, startled. Malfoy was talking to her since his colleague seemed to be busy with Luna's questions. 

"Eh-okay." She stammered, wondering why his gray eyes looked so dark and intense. 

"Okay." Colin replied, attempting to dissolve the tension and not make it seem as if Malfoy was only asking Ginny, which was _exactly_ what he had been doing. Malfoy nodded, uninterested but attempting to be polite.

Luna fortunately was done and they parted ways, the students entering the hut with the Professors walking back to the castle. 

As Ginny walked into Hagrid's hut, right behind Luna and Colin, she turned around to glance at the professors' receding figures, almost impulsively and subconsciously. As she did so, however, the blonde haired professor turned back at the same moment and their eyes met. 

Brown innocent ones and cynical silver ones; both filled with the exact same emotion – unvarnished longing- but unknown to the each other. 

Hagrid's voice filtered into her thoughts and the brief moment was lost. So brief it was that Ginny, as she closed the door behind her, was deigned to believe that the shared glance had only been part of her imagination, a simple daydream.

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_A/n: _

_Don't panic..Jake's not possessed or his body's not taken over by aliens..there is an excuse for his behavior and the reason will come up soon..but I had to get him out of the way for more Draco/Ginny action but that does not mean that it will be easy for Draco and Ginny to be together..Lots of obstacles..and Jake will make a comeback..trust me.._

_And forgive me for all the beta errors as my beta reader has gone AWOL. If you're reading this, shauna, thanks for all the betaing you've done..it's fine..im taking care of it..if you want to continue let me know_

_I chose Delta goodram's song because it's my favourite and because of its significance towards the end. I always believed that the eyes are the windows to our soul..anyone dare contradict me? What, you think it's the ears?_

_I made this chapter longer..hope you like it..and Paulo was inspired by my classmate Paul..The elves I talked about are in reference to LOTR Mirkwood hotshot elves e.g Legolas..so don't sue me for that.._

_The NEWTS are bit like the A levels where we have three months to kill before results and we're out of school..I am making up the whole system a bit so don't kill me for not following it accurately..i am not very good with details or structured systems..don't flame me for that.._

_Pardon me if I rushed through the year..i thought it more practical for her to get her NEWTS out of the way before all the drama of her impending possible interaction with Draco which would be wildly distracting for any girl..don't flame me for that._

A sneakie peekie:-

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**In the darkness of night, he told her everything that he could remember of all those traumatic times. She listened without saying much, murmuring here and there, once or twice asking a question.**

**_They sat there for a while, he wondering what she thought of him, she pondering all that he had said. She stood up suddenly, a strange unfamiliar emotion taking hold of her. _**

_REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW PRESS THE BUTTON..__FOR EEVRY REVIEW I WILL WRITE ONE MORE SENTENCE OF THE NEXT CHAPTER AND THE FASTER IT WILL BE POSTED_


	14. Crazy for this Girl

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**_Note: This follows the previous chapter on that day itself._**

**_Nothing you recognize is mine..i mean IF I were J.K Rowling, I wldnt be writing fanfic in the first place..A/n note cont'd below_**

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Crazy for this Girl 

She rolls the window down  
And she  
Talks over the sound  
Of the cars that pass us by  
And I don't know why  
But she's changed my mind  
  
Would you look at her  
She looks at me  
She's got me thinking about her constantly  
But she don't know how I feel  
And as she carries on without a doubt  
I wonder if she's figured out  
I'm crazy for this girl

_She was the one to hold me  
The night  
The sky fell down  
And what was I thinking when  
The world didn't end  
Why didn't I know what I know now_

_Right now  
Face to face  
All my fears  
Pushed aside  
And right now  
I'm ready to spend the rest of my life  
With you_

_- Evan and Jaron (The ultra hunky twins from Columbia)_

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Ginny met Draco that night by the lake. 

He was sitting there, this time seemingly asleep. Ginny leaned down to make sure that he was in fact asleep. She had never seen him this up close before – with the fine contours of his chiseled face, the pale blonde eyelashes resting lightly against the bone under his eye, and a lock of icy blonde hair fallen on one closed eye alight in the moonlight.

 He seemed so vulnerable, with all his defenses down and the icy cool façade gone. He looked like one of those celestial beings, the warm glow of the crescent moon illuminating his face like a halo and those aristocratic, almost godly features. 

Suddenly, Draco's eyelids fluttered and she stepped away startled, stumbling on her own feet and falling back with a soft 'thud'. 

This sudden movement woke him up, as he sat up with a jolt and realizing that Ginny Weasley was lying sprawled out on the ground in front of him. Draco stood up, holding his hand out to help her up.

"Are you alright?" He asked, showing genuine concern in his voice. She nodded, standing up without taking his hand. He smirked - she was always stubbornly independent. 

They sat back down again and comfortable silence filled the air between them.

"Tell me what happened," she spoke, her words quiet yet powerful. 

He knew what she was referring to. Even though she had no right to know (it seemed that nothing they were doing was right either), he told her. Not because she asked, but because he had _wanted_ to tell her anyway - share with her his sorrow and pain. 

He had not been willing to share it with anyone before. He was as closed up as an oyster and too private a person for that - but she, _she _was _special_. She had touched his heart in places he never even knew existed. 

He began by telling her how his father had been undyingly loyal to Voldermort all his life, wanting even his son to join him as a Deatheater. In the end, though, Lucius' loyalty had not even mattered to Voldemort who no longer had any use for him, and was beginning to distrust him. 

So, his father had been eliminated and everything Draco had believed in, and had been brought up to believe in since he was born, came crashing down on him. 

Nothing was the same. Nobody was the same - _especially_ not him.

None of the other death eaters respected the Malfoy name anymore, even now. His father, the man behind it the name, the only one whom they had truly feared because he had been Voldermort's right hand man was gone. Even the Ministry did not give two hoots about the Malfoy family anymore. 

Not to mention the rest of the wizarding community had little respect for the Malfoys to begin with. He was nobody and nothing. His entire existence the past eighteen years had been a deluded illusion. He had no idea what to do.

His mother seemed to be affected the worst; she went into depression after the funeral, rarely coming out of her room. She had loved his father with all of her heart and soul, wanting to please him in every way possible.  First, by giving him the son that he wanted and then, later attempting to raise that son up to be the heir that he had always wanted. 

His father, however, had never been satisfied. He had been a perfectionist, a hard difficult man who was rarely satisfied. As far as Draco was concerned, he did not think his father had ever loved his mother. She was just his wife, someone who would accompany him on functions and help raise his son. It was sad to watch his mother so unhappy and even more so now that Lucius was dead. 

In a bid to make his mother happy after his father's death, he had proposed to Pansy. His mother, however, deteriorated till she was reduced to a catatonic state of not feeling, not responding, not recognizing, and was as blank as an empty well. 

By that time, he had realized that living on his father's assets and money was not going to be enough to support himself and his mother – with her ailing mental state she required special medical care. 

There was nowhere he could continue the already defunct and bankrupt Malfoy business. So he had tried looking for a job but no one was willing to give a job to a deatheater's son. 

He had been fortunate, however, to have people like Dumbledore and Snape, who had faith in him and believed in him and had been willing to help him, give him a chance. If not, he would have gone off the deep end. Snape who had been planning on retiring knew of his difficulties and had suggested him as the next Potions Professor to Dumbledore, who accepted him without questioning. 

Professor Dumbledore's simple explanation on the night Draco had arrived back in Hogwarts to start his job, was that Draco had been a student of Hogwarts - that itself being a testament of the inherent goodness in his seemingly flawed character.

It was not to say things improved immediately. He felt terrible leaving his mother alone at home while working. 

He was the only one she had to take of her. The situation became even more dire when Draco not knowing how to handle her catatonic spates, had summoned a healer from St. Mungo's. She was diagnosed then with catatonic depression. According to the healer, she had the history of a chronic depressive as well. Draco had never felt so shattered to realize how broken his mother was, his mother, the only person he ever loved unconditionally. 

That was the reason behind his distressed state during the detention Ginny had had with him in the first term.

The healer had insisted then for Mrs. Malfoy to be placed at St. Mungo but Draco refused wanting his mother to at least enjoy the luxuries of the Malfoy Manor that she had cherished and maintained. But he had soon realized that the house elves could not care for her when he was at work. 

She had proven to be dangerous when she unexpectedly came out of her catatonic state one day and made an attempt at suicide. He had been teaching at Hogwarts at that time and had had to rush home. That had been the family emergency. Thus, she could no longer be alone - only under special care. She was presently residing in the Magical Maladies ward of St. Mungo

The time when his mother had been diagnosed and his father had been killed had been the lowest points in his life and he never thought he would make it.  In the still, intense darkness of the night, Draco told Ginny everything that he could remember of all those traumatic times. She listened without saying much, murmuring here and there; once or twice managing to ask a question.

They sat there for a while - he wondering what she thought of him and her pondering all that he had said. Ginny stood up suddenly, strange unfamiliar emotion taking hold of her. She wanted to put her arms around him and hold him, keep him safe. She wanted to protect him. Where that desire had weaseled out of she did not want to know. 

Knowing that she could do nothing like that,

"Let's go swimming," she stated, looking down at him. He was staring up at her, surprise mingled with amusement and twinge of wariness. 

There was a reckless air about her that excited Draco. He would forever remember this moment and love this aspect about her, the rare moments when she followed her heart. The night wind whipped her fiery hair off her face, her brown eyes shone with excitement and some other fierce emotion. It was too much for him to resist. 

They discarded their robes, still fully dressed though; they ran towards the lake, laughing at each other's absolute craziness and insanity.  But just before they jumped in, Draco impulsively grabbed her hand in his. Ginny had no time to react because the next thing she knew, she was in freezing cold water. 

She spluttered, coming up for air, Malfoy bobbed up and down beside her. They stared at each other, as an owl flew ahead, a light went on and off in the Gryffindor tower and the water ripped around them from the wind.

"I'm sorry all that happened to you," Ginny said, looking down into the murky depths of the water, her soaked clothes weighing her down. 

She admired him for his courage in going through all he had. Courage after all was not just fighting in a battle against dark forces. Courage was being kicked even before you begin, but beginning anyway and seeing it through no matter what. In her eyes, that was what Draco had done. It was amazing that he had not changed for the worse after he all he had suffered – he had in fact mutated into a better being.

"I'm sorry too," Draco murmured, watching her intently. He was glad that though she was sorry for the tragic events, she did not feel sorry _for _him. Draco never liked to be pitied, no matter what. He still had his Malfoy pride.

Ginny shivered suddenly as he smirked.

"Never go swimming in the night?" He voiced her thoughts. She nodded, smiling. 

They swam back towards the bank. He helped her out and up. 

Ginny was soaked, her clothes sticking to her skin. Draco's clothes were hanging off him, and his shirt had gone a translucent flesh color. He tried not to stare as he handed her robes to her.

As they walked back to the castle, she began trembling from the cold of the water and icy wind.  Without hesitation, he pulled her into his arms, wrapping his cloak around her, attempting to keep her warm. 

She had never felt warmer in her life, with the sensation of his arms around her, her head bumping against the crook of his neck and shoulder - the feel of his taut, rigidly muscular body so close to her own and his sheer masculine warmth suffusing into her.

Ginny slipped on the invisibility cloak at the Grand Entrance and with a squeeze on her hand from him, she departed, dreamy and temporarily sated.

Draco entered his room, his seemingly frozen body longing for a hot shower. That, however, would have to wait. Paulo was sitting at his desk in his room, arms crossed over his chest. For a man a few inches shorter than Draco, he looked fairly intimidating, but he had the added advantage of being a few years older.

"What do you think you're doing?"

In the last few months, Draco had become rather good friends with the DADA professor - The both of them being new members of the staff. Paulo was constantly entertaining him with stories about his wife and his two-year-old daughter's antics, of which he was extremely proud. 

Paulo made Draco nostalgic, having never had a family like that before and wanting one very much. That was why he envied the Weasleys. Although they were materialistically lacking, their wealth was their unconditional love for each other. 

He had never experienced that, because his father loved him only due to what he could become and his mother loved him because he was her only path to receiving love from his father. Draco had loved his mother though, very much, but the anguish of that never having been reciprocated filled his adolescent and adult years. 

Now, however, there seemed to be another chance for him to learn how it felt to love and be loved in return – allegedly the greatest thing in the world. 

Draco shook the water out of his hair, as he closed the door behind him. He knew exactly what Paulo was referring to.

"Nothing," he replied, innocently. 

Paulo sighed, "You're her professor, Draco."

"Not in one month's time," Draco said as he grabbed a towel and started wiping his hair.

"But you are, _now_," he reminded the blonde man. 

Draco shrugged, turning to face his friend, his eyes flashing, not with anger but with something else – crazy recklessness. Paulo knew that look, having had it in his own eyes before. Draco was dangerously in love. He would do anything just to be with Ginny.

"I thought you told me her family hates you." 

"They do but I'll cross _that _bridge when I come to it. Plus, I don't even know if she feels the same way," Draco pointed out, the fear of rejection evident in his voice.

"Could be only pity," he murmured more to himself than to Paulo. 

Paulo could not reassure Draco and tell him that he was wrong, for he, himself did not know.

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**_A/N: _**

**So it's confirmed – Draco has the hots for Gin-gin..End of story? You wish! Just cos you know you love someone doesn't mean you can get married and live happily ever after, especially if you're Draco and Ginny..**

**So lots more stuff is going to happen..dun forget as Paulo said, he's still her professor..and he must tell her how her feels..at at least show her..**

**Patience, my dears, patience – all will be happening  so stay bloody tuned..**

**Hope his explanation was adequate for all you highly critical flaming souls out there..and if you still think Draco's OOC..this MY fanfic and as clichéd it is to make him out to be this vulnerable nice guy, it IS NOT, in this story..he has EVERY reason to have changed..Am I being defensive? Yes,  I am..if Harry can be some angsty brat in OOTP..why can't Draco change into a nice guy huh? Anyway he is not really that nice, just civil..he's not slobbering over Harry feet is he? Or kissing up to Hermione? **

**I should stop..**

**Apologies for any grammatic errors..hope you didn't go blind cos of them..i apologise for not having a few editor/beta readers at my beck and call like J.K Rowling..Thanks to Shauna for trying to make up for this shortfall..She is one rocking beta reader..**

**Yes, I am a girlie..female and all..**

**They both say Voldie's name without wincing cos he's already confirmed DEAD and I think it's stupid to fear something that's DEAD..not to mention how stupid it is to fear something like Voldie in the first place..He's an imbecile who deserves a tight slap courtesy of my mother..**

**Hope this chappie was long enough for you..worst come to worst, I will post the entire story in one chapter..will that be long enough sirs and madams??**

**And do tell me what you think, not about my new and improved cynical attitude but about this piece of writing..**

**Apolgies for my sarcarsm..to compensate I will give you a nice sneak preview..**

_"What happened last night?" Luna asked, she was not one to beat around the bush. Colin choked on his muffin._

_"Last night? You and Malfoy?" He babbled. Ginny could not help but smirk._

_"Nothing, we just talked." She replied, looking down at her food trying to conceal the blush creeping into her cheeks at the mere memory of last night. Luna was not fooled. _

_"Did he kiss you or something?" Luna asked, flat out. Colin choked again, spluttering, bits of chewed up food flying all over the place. Ginny made a face, moving a few inches away, disgusted. Luna across from them and in safe territory, waited for an answer patiently. _

MUAHAHAHA..MEAN EVIL SARCARSTIC FANFIC AUTHOR WANTS MORE **REVIEWS**!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Heh, I sound stupid


	15. Walk With Me

Walk With Me 

_Sitting on a park bench  
Not a penny in our pockets  
But thats al right now  
Strumming on a guitar  
All the girlies say we rock it  
And I'm feeling high now  
Working on a suntan  
We don't even try to block it  
And it's hot as hell but we don't care  
'Cause we don't have to go nowhere  
We're just chillen day by day_

_Walk along with me  
Walk along with me  
Won't you walk with me  
Walk in harmony  
  
Chilling in the sunshine  
Hanging by Betheasda Fountain  
Watch a puppet show  
We're slowly get stoned  
While the Hare Krishna dancing  
And I satrt to zone  
Until I hear a baby cry  
Breaking up my daydream  
Happnes all the time but that's all right  
You know it's just a part of life  
We got to take it day by day_

_I still believe I can fly I get higher and higher  
I will be free I will fly higher and higher  
  
Chilling out having fun tripping on a good time  
Hanging with the girls in the sunshine  
Strumming on a guitar acting like a rock star  
Mamma always said her baby's gonna go real far  
Crazy vibe catch a ride  
I wanna go around the world and see the flipside  
You and me can't you see  
We're everything we need to be right now_

- Seven and the Sun

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"Good Morning, Miss.Weasley," Draco greeted Ginny the next morning, striding past the Gryffindor table towards the Professors' table to have breakfast. 

Ginny looked up, startled, but exchanged smiles with him. Everything had changed since last night. Fortunately nobody, save Luna and Colin, noticed this burst of special attention. 

Luna cleared her throat to get Ginny's attention, as Ginny had been busy following Malfoy's purposeful, brisk walk across the Hall with her eyes.

"What happened last night?" Luna asked.  She was not one to beat around the bush. Colin choked on his muffin.

"Last night? You and Malfoy?" He babbled. Ginny could not help but smirk.

"Ugh, you look like him when you do that," Colin looked horrified.

Ginny frowned, "I do not."

"The exact smirk," Colin insisted. Luna rolled her eyes.

"So?" She asked, bringing Ginny's attention back to her question.

"Nothing, we just talked," she replied, looking down at her food, trying to conceal the blush creeping into her cheeks at the mere memory of last night. Luna was not fooled. 

"Did he kiss you or something?" She asked, flat out. 

Colin choked again, spluttering, bits of chewed up food flying all over the place. Ginny made a face, moving a few inches away, disgusted. Luna across from them and in safe territory, waited for an answer patiently. 

"No!" Ginny looked at her friends, astonished that they could suggest such a thing. 

She pretended as if the mere idea had never ever crossed her mind, though it had, a thousand times if she were to count. This made Colin look genuinely relieved.

 Luna believed Ginny, but now she was even more worried, because the one thing even worse than physical attachment was emotional bonding. If Ginny and Malfoy had gotten closer emotionally, as she suspected was what had happened, it was even riskier. It meant that her best friend was now even more vulnerable.  

Why do you think wives got angrier when their husbands had long conversations or lunches with another woman rather than when the husbands slept with some random female? They knew they had lost their husbands' heart. 

Personally, Luna would rather have had Malfoy kiss Ginny than do whatever he had done last night, but it seemed that this was one love affair that she had no clue as to where it was heading - and that was saying something. 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

"I don't believe in soul mates," Malfoy stated as he stared up at the sky. He was leaning against the trunk, Ginny beside him. 

They had been staring up at the sky attempting to identify the constellations. Ginny had spotted the Dog Star, Sirius. When she had grown silent and solemn and he had asked her why. She had told him everything about that day at Department of Mysteries of Magic. 

Draco felt a heavy burden of guilt that his father had been one of the Deatheaters and she noticed it, being the intuitively perceptive girl she was, and had told him that it was not his fault. 

He had been blinded by his love for his parents and had been rendered ignorant to the other side of the coin by it. Draco had smiled at her, caught in the admiration and respect he felt for her.

"What do you believe in then?" Ginny asked, bringing him back to the present.

"The missing rib," he stated, dryly, glancing down at her face to see her reaction. She looked genuinely bewildered.

"The missing what?" She asked, even more intrigued, "Tell me," she insisted, when he did not respond.

He nodded, amused by her impatience to know and to find out, her insatiable hunger for knowledge. She was truly intelligent.

"There was once this girl and this boy very much in love. The girl then asked the boy 'Tell me... who do you love most in this world?' The boy replied, 'You, of course!' The girl pressed on, 'In your heart, what am I to you?' "

"The boy thought for a moment and looked intently in her eyes and said, "You are my rib. In the Bible, it was said that God saw that Adam was lonely. And so, during his sleep; God took one of Adam's ribs and created Eve."

"Every man has been searching for his missing rib; only when you find the woman of your life will you no longer feel the lingering ache in your heart." 

Ginny smiled dreamily when Draco ended his little tale.

"That's it?" She asked.

"Yes that's it." His gray eyes, however, seemed to be filled with anguish momentarily and she knew that there was more to the story, however, she did not press on.

"So have you found your missing rib?" She asked, knowing that it was a rather personal question. 

Draco paused, staring down at her, deep in thought. His face was a tantalizing few inches away. She realized briefly how she longed to discover the taste of his lips. A lustrous desire shot through her, the iciness of his gaze heating her up, till she almost nearly closed her eyes in anticipation but he glanced away, looking back up at the night sky.

"I don't know yet," he answered.

"Why do you hate Harry?" She asked suddenly, remembering the question that had been plaguing her mind since the day before.

"I don't," he paused and she knew he would continue.  "I just envy him. He's got _everything_ that I don't have," Draco murmured. 

"That's not true. Harry never had a real family," Ginny pointed out sensibly.

"Yes but he has your family." 

Ginny smiled, "I thought you didn't like my family."

Draco grinned sheepishly, "I don't like your brothers," he said, honestly. Ginny snorted, suddenly missing her brothers' and their crazy ways.

Before he could ask her if she missed them because she looked slightly sad at the thought of them, a loud noise crashed through the usual sounds of the night – the splish splash of the giant squid in the lake, the rustle of tree branches – and then that earsplitting 'crash!'. 

They stared at each other, in fear and shock. A professor caught with a student was one thing - a Weasley in the company of a Malfoy was a whole other matter. 

A large, tall figure stepped out from the shadows. Ginny stared up in horror when she realized who it was.

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**__**

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**_A/n:_**

**_I am glad I sound crazy…I  am eternally crazy I tell ya..i have this tremendous mood swings.._**

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**_You like Paulo? He's modeled after my classmate who is the sweetest guy in the world..I used to have a huge crush on him and remnants of it still linger but he's not my type – I go for the older, nicer kinda guy..speaking of which I have a date with one tomorrow..my first date..pretty nervous.._**

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You think only the professor thing stands in the way? Sweetie, I hate to disappoint you but we are talking about Malfoy vs Weasley, Gryffindor vs Slytherin..Are they willing to defend their relationship? Are they willing to take the plunge in the first place? Will it work out? Ever? Both of them as individuals have a lot of issues..so it takes time..true love takes time..

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**_Aplogies for this ultra short chappie..and the evil cliffie but do guess who was standing in the clearing ..and to compensate for this ultra short chappie, I will post the next chapter VERY VERY soon (If you give me sufficient feedback of course) _**

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**_The person who guesses the identity of the intruder correctly will have the next chapter dedicated to them..and trust me the next chapter's juicy..mamamia!_**

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**_And draco ginny snogging come up real soon..i mean it..so do stay tuned..i mean they have to unleash all those pent up_** **_physical attraction/tension soon right?_**

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**_Sneakie Peekie BOO!!!!!!!_**

_He spotted Ginny, her red hair standing out among the rest. He slowed down trying to catch her eye subtly without anyone else noticing. He had to speak to her, alone.  He need not have worried. _

Her eyes instinctively wandered over to the tall, good-looking, blonde man strolling down the classroom. He nodded towards an empty classroom by the side, slipping inside it. Ginny wondered what could be so urgent that he needed to speak to her now. Curiosity aroused, she told Colin that she would meet him at their next talk

**(To the tune of 'We will rock you' by Five and Queen)**

**YOU WILL, YOU WILL REVIEW! *CLAP CLAP* YOU WILL, YOU WILL REVIEW! **


	16. Keep Me A Secret

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**_A/n: This chapter is dedicated to Daisie ()_**

**_It's not Ron, not Voldi, not Lucius who I already mentioned in the earlier chappie was DEAD..do you not READ my story???lol_**

**_It's…*drumroll*_**

**_Read and find out.._**
    
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    **Keep Me A Secret**  
    
      
    
    
    
    _Trying not to feel you but  
    
      
    
    _
    
    _You just brushed by  
    
      
    
    _
    
    _And if you dare to cross that line, you know  
    
      
    
    _
    
    _My toes will step on fire  
    
      
    
    _
    
    _Mmmmm sizzle when it's face on face  
    
      
    
    _
    
    _And skin on skin  
    
      
    
    _
    
    _And I'm tryin to keep you out  
    
      
    
    _
    
    _And I'm trying to keep me in  
    
      
    
    _
    
    _  
    
      
    
    _
    
    _One hundred million eyes behind these walls  
    
      
    
    _
    
    _Watching you, hearing you, knowing you  
    
      
    
    _
    
    _  
    
      
    
    _
    
    _Keep me a secret  
    
      
    
    _
    
    _Keep me out your arms  
    
      
    
    _
    
    _Keep my kisses off your lipstick  
    
      
    
    _
    
    _Stop me swallowing your charms  
    
      
    
    _
    
    _  
    
      
    
    _
    
    _Keep yourself a secret  
    
      
    
    _
    
    _Lock up all your doors  
    
      
    
    _
    
    _I'll keep you out of my dreams  
    
      
    
    _
    
    _And just you keep me out of yours  
    
      
    
    _
    
    _  
    
      
    
    _
    
    _I'm needing not to notice you, But you grabbed my eye. _
    
    _And don't let embraces linger, Try to keep our arms untied. _
    
    _See, there you go again, You're making me mad._
    
    _Cause I'm drawn to this danger, Always making me mad!   
    
      
    
    _
    
    _  
    
      
    
    _
    
    _One hundred million reasons to ignore,_
    
    _ Wanting to be with you, _
    
    _One hundred million eyes behind these walls, _
    
    _Watching you, hearing you, knowing you.   
    
      
    
    _
    
    _  
    
      
    
    _
    
    _Keep me a secret  
    
      
    
    _
    
    _Keep me out your arms  
    
      
    
    _
    
    _Keep my kisses off your lipstick  
    
      
    
    _
    
    _Stop me swallowing your charms  
    
      
    
    _
    
    _  
    
      
    
    _
    
    _Keep yourself a secret  
    
      
    
    _
    
    _Lock up all your doors  
    
      
    
    _
    
    _I'll keep you out of my dreams  
    
      
    
    _
    
    _And just you keep me out of yours  
    
      
    
    _
    
    _  
    
      
    
    _
    
    _All I'm asking  
    
      
    
    _
    
    _Is for nothing  
    
      
    
    _
    
    _And if nothing is enough for you  
    
      
    
    _
    
    _Leave it unsaid  
    
      
    
    _
    
    _Keep me inside your head  
    
      
    
    _
    
    _Under your breath  
    
      
    
    _
    
    _  
    
      
    
    _
    
    _Keep me a secret  
    
      
    
    _
    
    _Keep me out your arms  
    
      
    
    _
    
    _Keep my kisses off your lipstick  
    
      
    
    _
    
    _Stop me swallowing your charms  
    
      
    
    _
    
    _  
    
      
    
    _
    
    _Keep yourself a secret  
    
      
    
    _
    
    _Lock up all your doors  
    
      
    
    _
    
    _I'll keep you out of my dreams  
    
      
    
    _
    
    _And just you keep me out of yours___

_- Ainsley Henderson_

_*                          *                                 *_

_Before he could ask her if she missed them because she looked slightly sad at the thought of them, a loud noise startled them. They stared at each other, in fear and shock. A professor caught with a student was one thing. A Weasley in the company of a Malfoy was a whole other matter. _

A large, tall figure stepped out from the shadows. Ginny stared up in horror when she realized who it was.

"Eh- herm," Hagrid cleared his throat, looking pointedly down at the very pale and obviously frightened Ginny before shifting his gaze towards Malfoy whose face was expressionless - practiced nonchalance masking his real pure fear that only Ginny seemed to feel radiating off him.

"It was my fault." 

His words and that he had spoken up despite his fear of being caught and the consequences he might have to face - possible expulsion from Hogwarts and losing his only source of income, was a pleasant surprise to the two other parties present.

At hearing this, Hagrid, drew back, startled. Malfoy was standing tall and taking the blame for whatever Hagrid had assumed this was - and he was not assuming the worst. 

Ginny gaped at Malfoy. 

"Yeh ain't up ter n' good as far as I c'n see," he nodded and walked off, to continue his game-keeping duties.

Ginny stared in even more surprise, as she realized what Hagrid has just done. The night seemed to holding all sorts of surprises for her. The full impact of Hagrid's actions finally sunk in for Draco because his face broke into a rock-melting smile of relief.

"Better get going before he comes back and decides to turn us in," Draco echoed her thoughts.

"Hagrid's not so bad eh?" Draco asked, as they approached the castle. Ginny nodded, smiling.

"He trusts us," she said simply, smiling at him before walking off.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Dumbledore came for breakfast that day - something uncommon, since he liked having his breakfast in his room with his chamber music. He had come down this morning to ensure that his gamekeeper had not gone temporarily insane from spending his days with all those flubberworms and blast-ended skrewts. _Or_ was actually talking sense this time. 

As the old professor ate, he watched the youngest Weasley enter the Hall with her two friends. They sat at the Gryffindor table and proceeded to eat and talk. Ginny only seemed to answer the questions posed to her by the Ravenclaw, Miss. Lovegood. Other than that, she simply ate her food, seemingly lost in her own world. 

Dumbledore also noticed his Potions Professor step into the hall - his face bright, and a bounce in his step that had never been there before. He noted with a hint of pride that what Hogwarts could not do to Draco as a student it had done to him now that he was a teacher. 

This was what Dumbledore had hoped for when he had hired Draco. It seemed that he was not disappointed. 

However, _this_ was new twist that he had not bargained for, and he prided himself on knowing a lot more about human relations that Miss. Lovegood did.  Though it was a fact that she was no charlatan either.

He watched with bated breath as Professor Malfoy walked by the Gryffindor table. A smile quirked the ends of Dumbeldore's lips as Draco paused to greet Miss. Weasley, drawing stares from students at the other table. 

"Oh dear," Dumebledore murmured to himself, not liking the curious stares Ginny and Draco were getting from the other students. He rose, but not before informing Minerva to tell Draco to come to his office. 

*                                                           *                                                                  *

"Sir, you wanted to see me?" Draco asked as he stepped into Dumbledore's office. 

The man himself was seated at his desk, his chin leaning on his long slender fingers. '_Piano fingers_' Draco always thought of them. Dumbledore nodded, motioning for him to sit down.

"Is it my mother?" Draco asked, worry lines creasing his forehead, as he took his seat. Dumbledore shook his head, smiling reassuringly.

"Draco, you've come a long way," Dumebledore began, his clear blue eyes piercing right through Draco's soul. "And I am aware that you long for certain things that you did not have before.  This being said, you should know that I grant you my approval," he smiled at the young man, knowingly. 

Draco was not surprised that Dumbledore knew. There was almost nothing that he did not know. Draco was not going to go the way of tetchy defensiveness either. There was little use in attempting to deny something that was true.

"But what this _school_ approves of is, different." Dumbledore said as he grew solemn, causing Draco to do so as well.  "Walls have ears, Draco.  And if other people find out - others who are not as open minded - all parties concerned will get hurt," Dumbledore said, looking pointedly at him.

Draco nodded, with full understanding. 

"Don't be so obvious," Dumbledore advised.

"Don't worry, Sir, I ensure you that this will go nothing beyond a friendship as far as I am a Professor in this school and she, a student," Draco stated, his revolve as firm as steel. 

Dumbledore nodded sadly.  "Don't make promises you can't keep."

Draco stood up, "Don't worry Professor. I don't really deserve her - not even as friend. She's too good for me."

Dumbledore watched him leave, a sad smile playing across his lips. Draco cared for her. There was little doubt about that.

*                                                                 *                                                               *

Draco was walking down the corridor just as the classroom door at the end burst open and seventh year Gryffindors came streaming out, all talking at the top of their voices about the fascinatingly impressive display by the Aurors. 

He spotted Ginny, her red hair standing out among the rest. He slowed down trying to catch her eye subtly without anyone else noticing. He _had_ to speak to her, alone.  He need not have worried. 

Her eyes instinctively wandered over to the tall, good-looking, blonde man strolling down the classroom. He nodded towards an empty classroom by the side, slipping inside it. 

Ginny wondered what could be so urgent that he needed to speak to her now. Curiosity aroused, she told Colin that she would meet him at their next talk. 

She darted through the crowd and walked into the classroom to find Malfoy straddling the edge of one of the desks, his boots grazing the ground, his expression thoughtful. He looked up at her footstep. 

"Virginia."

Her breath caught in her throat. It was the first time he had called her by her first name and he made it sound so beautiful and romantic as well. She wished he would say it again but his next words completely snapped her out of her romantic reverie.

"I think we should stop meeting at night and-"

"Why?" She asked, aghast and not bothering to conceal it. He felt a prickle of hope. Perhaps she felt more than pity for him. This was the wrong time for such thoughts though.

"It's not safe. Last night, Hagrid found us. Who knows who else will-"

"But we're not doing anything wrong." She insisted, despair edging her voice. 

Draco shook his head,"The hour itself we're meeting is awkward." He pointed out.

"You're not allowed out after hours y'know." He reminded, mildly bemused, knowing that she had broken that rule so many times she barely remembered that it existed.

She seemed to realize that she had been defeated. She tried not to look so dejected, not wanting to show Draco how she _really_ felt about him. He obviously did not feel the same way about her, having been able to approach her tell her that they should stop meeting each other – an action that required a certain degree of heartlessness and detachment.

That was exactly what she told Luna later, when they were up at the Astronomy Tower having one of their 'women only' sessions. 

Luna had scoffed at her immediately.

"Ginny, Ginny," she shook her head, bemused by her friend's ignorance. "He loves you, Gin, have you never seen the way he looks at you?" Luna asked. 

Ginny blushed, unable to prevent her lips from curving up into a smile of pleasure,

 "You're crazy, Lu." That was the only comeback she could think of.  

Luna simply shrugged. 

Their graduation was round the corner - if Ginny did not see Draco now, when would she ever get to see him again?

That was the exact question Draco was pondering about, as he sat at his desk, lost in thought. The wind began to blow through his open window.  It did not bring the smell of the forbidden forest or the icy freshness of the lake. 

Instead it brought the alluring vanilla scent of someone he knew well and the touch of a kiss, a kiss that came from not so far away, slowly, slowly, until it rested on his lips. 

Draco smiled. 

A few minutes previously as Ginny had stood up to leave the astronomy tower; she had felt the wind around her, seemingly whispering _his_ name. Impulsively, she had blown him a kiss before turning around to leave.

It seemed that when one followed their heart's desire or their destiny, the whole universe conspired in helping them achieve it.

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Their N.E.W.T  results came back. They had all done well, Luna and Ginny topping DADA. Luna had rushed off to share the good news with Professor Paulo. Ginny had topped charms but not Potions. 

Colin had topped Muggle Studies. (Luna, in an attempt to downplay his good results, had said that was expected since he was of muggle origin) But the biggest and funniest surprise of it all – Colin had fallen back onto the floor when he had found out while Luna and Ginny had started laughing in disbelief – Colin had topped transfiguration.

Colin, a dark horse, had beaten Jake who normally topped transfiguration. The three of then laughed even harder at the sight of him moping to his Ravenclaw girlfriend, some girl whom according to Luna nobody liked for she was the resident bitch.

"How did you do?" 

Ginny started at the familiar voice she had been subconsciously longing for the past few days. She spun around to face Draco smiling down at her. 

He seemed to be addressing his question to both Colin and her, like any other concerned Professor but his eyes were only on Ginny. She nodded, smiling happily, handing him her results slip. He smiled proudly at her excellent grades.

"You could become an Auror with those grades." He commented. Ginny blushed.

"I'm applying for a job at the Daily Prophet actually." Draco nodded. It was expected. She loved writing more than anything else. 

After congratulating Colin on his unexpected transfiguration grade which -  Draco informed them, his eyes alight with mirth -  had nearly sent McGonagall into a cardiac arrest, Draco left. Ginny watched him walk off, her heart tap dancing in her chest.

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Ginny was looking for her two best friends as she wandered along the corridor. She slipped her pocket calendar out from her… and counted the days until graduation for the tenth time that day. 

She could not help herself; this was by far the most exciting event in her life. Well, besides her most likely never- to-be-held wedding. Who would _want_ to marry her? 

For some reason, her memory flashed back to her dream last night, and she cringed. She could not believe her subconscious was thinking in "that way" about Draco Malfoy! 

Then again, what else could explain why her heart started beating as fast a snitch every time he walked by, or even smiled at her, (Note: NOT SMIRK) or greeted her as a Professor greeted a student.

Ginny was so absorbed in her thoughts that she did not feel the hairs on the nape of her neck stand up, from the prickling sensation of being watched. 

Giving up all hope in finding her two friends, Ginny realized that she was near the Room of Requirement. 

Perfect, she thought to herself. She would like to just lie down for a short nap. She never got to sleep at night anymore what with roaming around the castle with Colin and Luna, spending time at their favorite spots, even meeting Dumbledore on a midnight stroll once, and visiting Hagrid in the dead of the night. 

Hagrid's reception for Ginny was anything but cool. The only difference was his emphasis on 'how are you' when talking to her.

The door materialized, Ginny opened it, stepping inside to find Malfoy seated at huge oak desk in the middle of the room, lined with wall-to-wall shelves of books. 

On the floor, were cushions strewn about. For her own nap Ginny mused wryly, attempting to distract herself from the not so noble thoughts she was having about her Potions Professor. 

He was seated comfortably in his chair, his athletic frame stretched out languorously, reading a book.

He looked up at the sound of footsteps. His face was at first startled, and then melted into a smile, something she would never have thought possible of him a year ago.

That's what love does. _Oh No_, where did _that_ thought come from?

 "What brings you here?" He asked, placing the book he had been reading on the table, marking the page he had stopped at.

"For a nap," She yawned before she could stop herself, and Draco smirked, amused.

 "Well, don't let me stop you, go ahead." He gestured towards the cushions on the floor.

 She rolled her eyes, smiling nonetheless. As she walked by his desk, she stopped, for reasons she did not know, and turned towards him. 

"What book is that?" She asked.

"The Alchemist," He picked up the book and handed it to her, for further inspection.

She browsed through it, intrigued. 

"Could you lend it to me when you're done?" She asked. 

He nodded before looking up at her again. "But when I'm done with it, you won't be here anymore." 

She could barely hear him, as he seemed to be muttering to himself. He did not look crestfallen at the idea of her not being there, but more pensive about it. 

"Oh well," was all she could say as she turned to walk away. 

She had not taken one step further before his hand flashed out to manacle her wrist, jerking her to a halt, an utterly impulsive gesture sprouting from the simple desire of wanting her.

She turned towards him, astonished, her skin burning from his touch. 

Sharp, clear silver eyes met stunned brown ones. 

It seemed as if time froze for an interminable moment. Everything around her seemed to slow down, the crackling of the fire in the fireplace, the ticking of the clock on the wall. 

All she could see was his silver eyes, looking so strange filled with emotions so great it was almost akin to love. She drew in her breath sharply, realizing the truth of Luna's words.

He really _did_ feel for her. 

Perhaps it had started out as sheer gratitude for being open minded enough to give him a chance and help him, combined with an inborn subconscious admiration for her spunk and outspokenness. That was besides the point at the moment.

He did _genuinely_ have feelings for her. 

As he grew as a person himself, and learned more about himself and his strengths, he had grown to admire people with the good qualities that he himself lacked and hoped to cultivate - the exact people that in the past he would have rather drunk ten galleons of skele-grow than be associated with.

And she had watched him transform right before her eyes, from an insecure, defensive young man to a still vulnerable, but fundamentally good person whom she had become attracted towards. 

He seemed to be pulling her towards him and she barely resisted. Soon she was standing right in front of him as he sat in his chair, looking up at her, the cold blank mask of a face that he had in the past gone, only to be replaced with one of aristocratic yet good natured handsomeness.

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**_"Draco.."_**

It was as if that was all he had needed to hear from those lips, lips that he thought of kissing a lot more times than he had been aware of. 

She made his name sound as if it was sacred, holy and much more. 

He pulled her down, his fingers clasped around her wrist, tugging her hand down towards him, simultaneously cupping his other hand around her head, bringing her face down to his. She did not resist, having wanted this almost as much as he did. 

His eyes were so close to hers she could see the pure white and green flecks in the gray.

Their lips touched, tender. The moment slowed down, and she drank it in. The brush of his lips, the slight stubble of day growth as it grazed her and the sound of the kiss.  

She had kissed many boys but _this_, this was _phenomenal_. That was the only way to describe it. This kiss surpassed all others. 

He kept his fingers anchored and knotted in her flaming hair as he kissed her, moving his other hand up her arm. His kiss was tantalizingly slow, just like how he wanted this moment to be.

 He wanted to freeze this in time forever. He had never known a single kiss could be so intoxicating. Somebody once told him that kissing someone you loved for the very first time was destiny knocking and now he believed it. 

He could not think nor stop himself if he wanted to. She tasted so fresh and sweet at the same time, her lips melded so perfectly with his – it felt so extremely _right_. She was practically on his lap and it looked as if nothing would or could stop them from relieving all that pent up desire and longing. 

It seemed, at least to Ginny, that all this while she had been dead, starved from the taste of Draco, the intoxicating smell that was his, his uncannily gentle touch and kisses – and now she was finally alive, burning with life. He heated her to the tip of her toes from the way his tongue parted her lips gently, like she was more fragile than glass and it felt as if this heat would go on for a long time, even after the sun itself had burnt out. 

However, all good things eventually have to come to an end.

The sound of sardonic clapping filled the air. 

Ginny broke away first, her chest was rising and falling sharply, breathless, her pulse going a mile per minute.

She turned and gasped, this time not from breathlessness but from shock. 

She took a big step away from Draco, her eyes wide like a deer caught in brightly glaring headlights.

Draco stood up abruptly, realizing the seriousness of the situation immediately, and the need to react very calmly. A well-developed instinct of self-preservation took over as he felt Ginny's fear and panic wafting off her in sharp waves. 

He kept his eyes, however, on the boy across the room standing in the corner, an incriminating camera hanging around his neck as he smirked at the both of them, a smirk that could rival Draco's own. 

"Hamilton, what are you doing?" Draco spoke, his voice filled with commanding authority.

Ginny felt a rush of pride at Draco's calm and composure, she loved him even more now for not running away like a coward but standing up to face the consequences of his action, well _their_ actions actually.

 "_I_ should be asking _you_ that, _Professor_." Jake commented, his voice dripping with sarcasm and a tinge of pure vengeance.

"So this is why you dumped me right, Ginny?" He turned on Ginny, his eyes shining with malice. 

Ginny took a step back from him, unconsciously towards Draco who ached to put his arm around her and reassure her but he knew that any further physical contact would only worsen the situation. 

Ginny was too shocked by the unexpected chain of events to even comment.

 "To get it on with your professor and _supposed_ mortal enemy? I guess the forbidden fruit tastes better, eh? And I thought _you_ were smart! Ha!" Jake ranted, glaring at the both of them. 

"You have no evidence as to what happened." Ginny stated, the tremble in her voice evident but contrasting sharply with the determined set of her delicate jaw.

Jake laughed, horrible mirthless laughter echoing off the walls. He slipped the camera from around his neck. "What do you think this is, you _brainless whore_?!" 

A wave of futile rage swept over Draco as he clenched his fists tightly, his nails digging into the palms of his hands to control the unbridled fury he felt at the insult being thrown Ginny's way. 

He had to calm himself. He needed to distract the boy. He hoped Ginny would keep him talking.

"You thought I would leave you alone? After dumping me like that? ME? Jake Hamilton?!" He paced in front of them, throwing his hands in the air, for dramatic effect.

 "_Accio _Camera!"

Jake spun around, as he realized what Draco was doing but it was too late. 

The camera was whizzing out of his hands into the Professor's. 

Ginny's face broke into a relieved grin but the grin vanished when she realized that Draco was still looking as stern and cold as ever, like an unreachable iceberg.

"It's your word against mine, Hamilton, now that I have the evidence, so I suggest you keep your mouth shut." 

With that Draco swept out of the room, leaving a fuming Jake and a confusedly dejected Ginny behind.

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**_A/n: I like the rib thing too..it's so not clichéd..that's why I like it..and im not even Christian you know..since it has biblical references.._**

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**_Yeah, I havent even figured out how to end this story cos it's become such a part of me..it has evolved with me..though it's not my first fanfic…it has gone on the longest.._**

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**_I want to leave you hanging so that you will review more and make my fanfic author ego happy._**

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**_Ginny in denial is ALL part of the process.. but it might be Draco who's actually in denial..Who knows..Issues abound in the next few chapters.._**

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**_My date was not as great as I expected but it was nice..in a way..i mean we went to this art gallery, talked a lot, walked a lot..almost like Ginny and Draco and sitting by the lake and talking about anything and everything..oh well..seems like my own love life is as meanderingly slow as Ginny and Draco's…at least they're snogging now.. FINALLY!!!!!!!!_**

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**_Personally I dun think this guy is for me..at least not at this age..i want someone exciting, funny and as crazy as I am – I have someone in mind already but damn he's soo won't see me in that way..sigh..he's a pretty boy as well..has these gorgeous eyes..sigh..should stop gushing about my own love life.._**

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**_Forgive moi for grammatical errors what with lack of beta readers..thanks to Kat and Shauna who did the first part of this chappie…_**

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**_Anyway any guesses on what will happen to Ginny and Dracie next??? Any suggestions on how I should end this love story?? Any feedback? Any special requests? _**

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**_Sneakie Peekie:_**

_She slipped back into her seat, joining her two friends. The smug look on her face said it all. _

_"What happened?" Luna queried, wondering what her friend had done. Even Colin felt the tiniest bit sorry for Malfoy seeing the wicked, yet amused, expression on Ginny's face._

_Ginny shrugged, smiling as Malfoy walked by, purposely not looking at their table. Revenge was utterly sweet, she decided. _

**FANFIC AUTHOR'S EGO NEEDS SOME EXPANSION SO PLEASE REVIEW BABES, MATES AND DUDES….ANIMALS ALSO CAN REVIEW..**

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	17. Crazy

**Crazy **

_Kind of like a summer's breeze,   
you do exactly as you please,   
drop a brother to his knees just for fun.  
I think it was the first of May,   
girl I can't forget the day,   
right then and there I knew you were the one.   
Do you think that possibly,   
you could spend your life with me,   
cuz girl this love is growing, and it's hotter than the sun.  
  
  
I get a little bit crazy baby,   
everytime you call my name   
my heart beats a little bit faster,   
after, you are in my arms again.   
You try to fight it,   
don't even try to hide it,   
emotions falling down like the rain,   
I can't find the words to explain it,   
ain't it, crazy how i fall,   
everytime you call my name.  
  
  
It's kind of like a work of art,   
you shot an arrow through my heart,   
even though we're worlds apart I can't deny,   
it feels like your apart   
of me the finish and the start of me,   
girl you are the heart of me,   
and that's no lie,   
did I mention that I love you so,   
and I just want the world to know,   
if I could you know I would write your name across the sky.  
  
Crazy, crazy...  
Evertime that your close to me,   
I lose control of my sanity,   
everynight, everyday, every word and you say,   
girl do you know you put a spell on me.  
  
Crazy,   
Everytime you call my name,   
I don't know what to do,  
I'm so in love with you._

- _Javier_

*             *                       *

Ginny did not mope, as it was to be expected of someone who had been so convinced that the person she was attracted to actually liked her in return, (despite the blatant signs from his acts in his past year at Hogwarts which indicated his far from good tendencies) only to realize that she had been wrong. 

All he had wanted was to pleasure her physically, nothing more. Or so it seemed for Malfoy was avoiding her as if she were a plague ever since that fateful day that had changed her entire life. Forever, scarring her or blessing her, she still could not decide.

 For, his kiss, despite his actions that followed it, ignoring her etc, shone through the rest of her dull dreary days at Hogwarts like a moonbeam that swirled and blinked on and off. Jake keeping mum about it should have soothed her pain, but it just seemed to aggravate her more. Especially to see his smug look every time he walked by as if to say '_see all he wanted was to use you! I could have given you much more_'. 

But Ginny did not mope or moan. She kept her head held high, her emotions bottled within and her lips curved into what she hoped looked like a smile. Luna was not fooled though, she knew something was upsetting her friend by the distracted, annoyed look in her eyes every time Jake walked by, or the stifled longing in her eyes each time Malfoy swept past her. 

But Luna had no time to ponder this because of her active involvement in the graduation dance committee. She was in charge of seating arrangement for the graduation ceremony, and that in itself was a nightmare. 

Colin who was in charge of the food and beverage was practically losing his hair. He could often be found cussing or swearing after receiving another letter via owl post about the lack of butterbeer for that day. He would rather sit for his NEWTS again, he insisted, but upon being dared to do so by his younger brother or Ginny, he would smile sheepishly and cleverly change the topic. 

Ginny had not partaken in this because she was not a prefect like the other two were. She spent the hours, without Luna and Colin's treasured company, sending resumes and portfolios of her writing to various newspapers and magazines, respectable ones of course, in the wizarding community.

She also looked up some apartments for sale, as she and Luna were planning to share one. When worst came to worst, she drowned herself in her favorite past time- listening to music using Colin's muggle portable radio with its headphones. It was called a deeman, or something close to that. Whatever it was, it was handy to carry around and very useful in pretending to ignore people, or not hear what they said. 

It was so small that Hagrid had nearly stepped on it accidentally when she had visited him during on of her regular visits to his Hut. Speaking of which, she had better look for her favorite red shawl as her neck had nearly frozen the last time she had walked across the field to visit Hagrid - she had not been able to find it for some reason.

Her dreams at night were a whole different story. They were all passionate, steamy, and rather physical, involving a certain blonde man (NOT Colin Creevey) causing her to wake up traumatized, and breathing hard. Nevertheless, Ginny coped with life after The Kiss, as she now thought of it.

However, the avalanche of passion above her head was creaking ever so slightly, threatening to crash on her. 

*                      *                      *

"I'm telling you Lu, you cannot put my parents beside Mr. And Mrs. Creevey! You know how my father talked Mr. Granger's ear off last year. The poor man had to excuse himself and stand in some remote corner to concentrate on his daughter going on stage." Ginny sighed, exasperated. Luna, who was sitting beside her, frowned running a hand through her blonde hair.

Colin was busy ignoring their incessant squabbling and trying to read his 'The Idiot's Guide to Joining a Quidditch Team'. They were in the library, spending their time together, something they rarely managed to do thanks to the madness of graduating and leaving Hogwarts. They were so absorbed in their arguing that none of them noticed their tall, well built blonde haired potions professor enter the library, striding towards their table purposefully. 

"Virginia?" All three of them looked up, surprised, startled, stunned - whatever the word what may be used to describe their three identical expressions of wide eyes, and slack jaws.

Ginny's shock was the first to dissipate, only to be replaced by haughty anger, that typical of a woman scorned, or one who _presumed_ she had been scorned as it was in this case.

Colin could not believe that Malfoy dared to call Ginny by her first name, and to address her as Virginia. There was something too personal and unique in that, as if this was his own _special_ way of addressing her. 

Luna was a step further than Colin, truly admiring the amount of risks Malfoy was willing to take just to speak to Ginny. From what she had gathered from all the random mumblings from Ginny when questioned, something physical had happened between the both of them, something that had been witnessed by somebody else. 

"Yes?" Ginny lifted her chin up, looking at him through her eyelashes, an imperiously superior look on her face. Draco almost burst out laughing, (something he had not had the urge to do in a long while) since that look was almost exactly like the one he had worn on his face during his days as the infamous Slytherin tyrant in Hogwarts. 

She, however, looked even more appealing and pretty. There was something even sweeter about something or someone you could not seem to have. That was Ginny, barely in his grasp, always slipping through his fingers. 

"I need to speak to you."

"Privately," He added, not wanting her two overly inquisitive friends to bear witness.

Ginny studied him for a moment then stood up, a dangerous smile flitting across her lips, one that made Draco genuinely worry. 

"I'll be fine." She murmured to her friends before sweeping by the table with grace and elegance, he never knew she even had. She continued to surprise him. 

He followed her to the furthest and most remote corner of the library. She abruptly spun around to face him, causing him to halt suddenly and nearly lose his balance. She simply continued smiling at him in that superior knowing way. Her cinnamon eyes were dancing with malicious delight.

"What is it?" She asked, as if not really caring what he had to say. She seemed so different from the girl he had kissed just that day. Then she had been all fire, warm as summer heating him up. Now, she was stiff and cool. 

"I just wanted to say..." He shifted from one foot to another. Ginny did not bother to help him out. She watched him struggle with what he wanted to say. He sincerely did not expect _her_ to be groveling at his feet just because he had come to talk to her, after serially ignoring her the past few days!

"About the other day..." He began again. Ginny looked at him, arching her one perfectly shaped eyebrow at him, delicately questioning. 

One end of her lip was twitching into a smile. She was not going to make it easy for him. In fact, as a brilliant idea popped into her pretty little head, she was going to make it terribly difficult for him. 

The love of power, which sleeps in the bosoms of the best of women, woke up all of a sudden and took possession of her. Following a capricious impulse, she leaned forward, before he could say anything more, and placed her lips over his, which just like the previous time startled her with its unexpected warmth. 

Ginny, however, was planning to be in total control this time. Taking advantage of his surprise and hesitation, she kissed him, her lips scorching, and her kiss deep and lustrous.  Before he could even begin to enjoy this brazenly heated kiss, she broke away. A triumphant glint was in her eyes. Her enticingly kissable lips were spread into a delicious smirk. 

She winked at him, a mischievously taunting gesture, before walking off. Two could play the game, she thought to herself. The startled look on his face, something so utterly atypical of him, and the hunger in normally icy cold eyes indicated that she had succeeded in her little game of teasing seduction. 

She slipped back into her seat, joining her two friends. The smug look on her face said it all. 

"What happened?" Luna queried, wondering what her friend had done. Even Colin felt the tiniest bit sorry for Malfoy seeing the wicked, yet amused, expression on Ginny's face.

Ginny shrugged, smiling as Malfoy walked by, purposely not looking at their table. Revenge was utterly sweet, she decided. 

No one, and she meant no one, could get the better of Virginia Weasley.

*                      *                      *

Ginny blew at her fingernails, grinning evilly at her best friend who gaped at her in disbelief upon hearing the whole tale. 

"Tell me why I never thought you and Malfoy made a perfect couple? First he kisses you in front of Jake and then gets away with it. Then you- you-" Luna splutters in disbelief at this point, knowing that what Ginny had done had taken a lot more than just plain spunk. 

It had sprouted from the inane knowledge that Malfoy wanted her as much as she wanted him. Ginny grinned, knowing this was as much of a compliment she was going to get out of Luna. Though the couple bit irked her a bit yet warming her at the same time.

"You tease him, and get away with it as well." Luna concluded, since Malfoy had not gone to Dumebedore to throw Ginny out of school, or deducted all the house points off her for no particular reason.

Ginny shrugged, as if it was not her fault that she was such a genius. Luna gave her a mock salute, causing Ginny to forgo her scarlet woman act and collapse into helpless giggles.

"You should have seen his face." Ginny gasped, between laughs. Luna grinned, happy to see her friend in such a light hearted mood.

*                      *                      *

Paulo was doubled up with laughter. He was so amused by Draco's narration that he forgot to admonish him for getting physically intimate with his student

"Sounds like you finally met your perfect match." He teased. Draco shot him a death glare.

"It is not funny, in the least. I mean, she was totally-'  
  


"Making fool out of you," Paulo offered helpfully. 

Draco scowled, "I need to go for a walk." He stomped out of the room, slipping his cloak on. Paulo did not follow him, too busy laughing and trying to avoid Trelawny's inquisitive glances.

It was hard not to notice the vivid red head from a mile away, under that old oak tree with her blonde haired Ravenclaw friend who had a crush on Paulo. She seemed to be having a hearty laugh, hopefully not because of the same reason Paulo was still trying to regain his breath for. 

He would avoid her today and tomorrow and the day after, at all costs. For his sanity's sake at least, though if he was honest with himself, her latest stint as an incurable tease proved to be a lighthearted distraction to more serious matters at hand. 

 *                     *                        *

"We have the teachers' talk today." Luna told the rest that morning, referring to their after exam activities timetable. Ginny frowned, biting into a bagel thoughtfully.

"What's that?"

"It's the one where Hogwarts professors talk to us and try and convince us to come back as teachers." Luna explained.

"I heard the DADA professor salary is pretty high." Colin mused. 

"Yeah well, that's not surprising what with the longest DADA professor having lasted for a year and a half only?" Ginny nodded in agreement to Luna's words. 

"I'll never be a professor though," She stated, the finality in her tone immense.

"Yeah, me neither." Colin added, with a shudder at the thought of handling irrepressible students like himself or his brother.

"Well, never say never. Teaching is definitely not a possibility I'm going to write off." Luna voiced her thoughts. Ginny nodded, smiling at the thought of her friend teaching. 

"We'd better get going." They hurriedly finished their breakfast and headed towards the third floor classroom. As they stepped in, Ginny immediately noticed Draco seated at the teacher's table. Luna exchanged bemused glances with her. 

This was the first time they were seeing him since that day in the library. Colin seemed not to notice, preoccupied with finding good seats, which to him, meant all the way in the back - something Ginny did not mind. They were not the first students there but more continued to fill the room after they had arrived. Draco seemed not notice them, busily helping Professor Sprout who was obviously the one giving the talk.  

Malfoy left the room a moment later. Five minutes into Professor Sprout's dreary speech on the benefits about teaching at Hogwarts, Ginny excused herself to go to the nearest washroom. 

She stepped out of the room, blinking her sleep deprived drooping eyelids awake. She continued to walk down the hallway, planning to forcibly keep herself awake by splashing water on her face.

Draco was heading back to the classroom, having deposited certain books the thought Professor Sprout would need, back on his table.  He noticed the fiery red haired object of desire, walking down the corridor that intersected with the one he was walking in. 

The opportunity to catch her unawares was too much to resist. Revenge after all was temptingly sweet. He increased his pace, reaching her just as she was about to pass the alcove covered by certain well-positioned curtains. 

Ginny had been thinking about a muggle song she had heard the night before. She tried to hum the tune in a bid to remember it. Suddenly, someone grabbed hold of her arm, in a vice like grip, pulling her into the alcove by the side. 

Ginny, was so shocked and scared, she barely resisted. A thousand wild thoughts raced in her mind, from the moment she was grabbed to the moment she was pulled into the alcove right into the arms of Draco Malfoy, smirking down at her, his eyes shining with mirth so unlike its cool icy gaze of previous years.

She opened her mouth, but Draco promptly cupped his hand over her mouth, not wanting her to scream and attract attention when they were in such a compromising position. 

She let out a muffled cry of protest and tried to struggle, an action which gave Draco the excuse to pull her closer, crushing her petite slender body against his own tall muscular one. 

"Stop struggling, Virginia." He leaned down and whispered into her ear, a smile playing on his lips. She relaxed for a moment before attempting to bite his hand that covered her mouth.

"**_Yow_**!" Draco yelled, removing his hand away immediately. She had a vicious bite. Ginny, flushed, from having been so close to someone she had wanted to be this close too all along, grinned smugly up at Draco. She had gotten the upper hand, once again.

Draco looked at her, appalled yet amused by this beautiful yet insane creature before him.

"Don't _ever_ try and take advantage of me." She murmured, sounding more teasing than threatening. She made a move to step out of the alcove.                                 Draco was not going to let her get away this time. He forgot his pain, and the red marks in his palm caused by her teeth. 

In one swift fluid movement, he grabbed hold of her wrist, pulling her back towards him, against the wall; instantly, placing his large hands on either sides of her as he trapped her between them. Ginny, taken by surprise, could barely protest as he pinned her against the wall with his tall, broad frame.  

He stood close enough for her to smell his alluring scent of luxurious cologne mingled with his very own scent of raw masculinity. She stared up at him, her pupils dilated with desire, her lips slightly parted as her breath came out in rapid gusts.

"You were saying…" He smirked, leaning down towards her, his lips inches away from hers. His breath mingling with hers and his blonde hair brushing against her forehead.

She ran her tongue nervously over her dry lips, the dangerous glint in his stormy gray eyes scaring her, and exciting her at the same time.

A strange longing seized him at the sight of her pink tongue running over her luscious lower lip but he held himself back. He had to be in control, _this time_, at _least_.

Ginny wanted so badly for him to kiss her and touch her, the way he did back in the room of requirement. The nearness of his warm, rigidly muscular body seemed to awaken a primal desire in her. 

She stared up at him, as he bought his face an inch away from hers, their noses touching. Her pulse quickened with anticipation, and she closed her eyes. He almost kissed her, almost leaned forward and kissed her for she looked so temptingly delicious.

But he did not.

 Her eyes flew open at the sound of his boots clicking against the floor as he took a step back away from her, his lips curled into a satisfactory smirk.

She realized instantly what he had done. How she had been hoodwinked. 

She gaped at him in utter disbelief. Surprise was quickly replaced with white-hot anger. She glared at him with all the hatred and anger in her soul. She was so furious that she could barely speak or move. 

How could he? Pretend to kiss her and then… AUGH! If she were honest with herself though, Ginny would realize that the anger, which was being directed towards Draco in the form of loathsome glances, was actually against her own self for wanting him so badly that she had put herself in a position of plain vulnerability.

Draco did not wait any longer, knowing that if she came to her senses she would most likely murder him, regardless of the prison sentence she had to serve in Azkaban for doing so.

Seeing that his little ploy had succeeded, smirk painted on his harshly chiseled face, he nodded at her – an ironic act of courtesy considering what he had just done – before walking off.

Ginny stomped back to the classroom, her pretty face contorted fiercely with utmost fury. 

Colin exchanged wary glances with Luna as their best friend sat herself between them, promptly crossing her arms across her chest in a defensive gesture, muttering random swear words worthy Fred and George's stature, throughout the talk, obviously directed at some phantom menace.

She proceeded to ignore her friends for the rest of the day, all her actions laced with incredible annoyance. Luna watched all this bemused, while Colin was simply terrified. He had been victim of some of Ginny' most excellent hexes when she had been in one of these rare but unforgettable moods. 

Ginny was infuriating herself even further by going through all the '_if only_'s and '_I should have_'s' mentally.

A good example was how she felt she should have hexed Draco just before he walked off. So what if he was her professor? They had gone well past the normalcy of a regular student professor relationship, to bother about such rudimentary rules.

Or better still, if only she had continued to hate him this year as she had all those blessed past years.

She had never felt so internally frustrated with herself and the worst part was that there was no person she could take it out on. At least when Fred and George tried to turn her hair green, she could promptly make their lives miserable by hexing them upon sight or reporting their mischief to their mother. 

This time, however there seemed no way of her getting her revenge because he was a Professor, and she would probably get detention and a lot more than that if she tried to curse him. Also there was no close contact with Draco, thus never giving her the chance for even a customary death glare at him. 

She could do it on the sly though, if she wanted to. Had the sorting hat not said, in her first year that she was blessed with both the courage and brilliance of Gryffindor, and the cunning stealth of Slytherin, though the former was more apparent.

Whatever plan she cold have come have come up with though would have been no use, for Draco was absent for a few days. She wondered if it was because of his mother. She hoped that for his sake, his mother was all right. Well as allright as you could be in such a catatonic state. 

She understood how much it hurt to see his mother such a state. His mother was after all the only person Draco had ever loved so unconditionally. So for a while Ginny's grudge against Draco faded, only to be replaced by genuine concern and worry for his welfare.

*                 *                             *

A/n note 

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**_THANK YOU SOOOO MUCH FOR THE REVIEWS_**

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**_You know what..your plot about Draco and Ginny hating each other sounds a lot more normal than my plot..but hope you enjoy the direction I am going anyway_**

**_Am glad you liked the part with Jake – that totally came off my head as I was writing that part_**

**_I'll just make this story ultra long – rather than create a sequel go right into their relationship after Hogwarts but what make you think there will even a be a relationship in the first place? Hehe..go figure, darlings.._**

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**_Why did Jake seem unrealistic? I dun understand…if he seems exceptionally evil all of sudden..well there is a reason for that and it will be explained in later chappie but since you brought it up let me tell you something – people can get unnaturally mean when threatened or insecure or having lost something they prided themselves on possessing ..get my drift????_**

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**_Am glad you like my snog scene..i took it straight from the top of my head..the way I wanted to feel when I received my first kiss..hopefully soon…_**

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**_Ginny was heartbroken cos Draco left without acknowledging her or giving her any sign that the kiss was not a mistake etc. he just stormed off, being as icy with her as he was with Jake..so she was a bit confused..that emotion – heartbroken is sort of a foreboding emotion in her, fear that he would avoid her and so on._**

****

**_Aniwai have changed it from heartbroken to confused_**

**Sneakie peekies are meant to confuse you..hehe..**

_Ginny ate her breakfast laughing and talking to Luna and Colin, blissfully ignorant of the events that had transpired the previous night. _

_That is until the owl post arrived. _

_"Wow, Gin, you've got a lot of owls today eh?" Ginny looked up at Colin's comment as several familiar looking owls swooped down dropping letters on her lap. A prickle of unease filled her as she picked them up.  Ignoring Luna and Colin's inquisitive glances, she proceeded to open them one by one._

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	18. Clarity

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**Clarity **

__

_I worry, I weigh three times my body   
I worry, I throw my fear around  
But this morning, there's a calm I can't explain   
The rock candy's melted, only diamonds now remain  
  
Ooh ooh ooh ooh  
  
By the time I recognize this moment  
This moment will be gone  
But I will bend the light, pretend that it somehow lingered on  
Well all I got's   
  
Ooh ooh ooh ooh  
  
And I will wait to find  
If this will last forever  
And I will wait to find  
If this will last forever  
And I will pay no mind  
That it won't and it won't because it can't  
Because it just can't  
It just can't  
It's not supposed to  
  
Was there a second of time that I looked around?  
Did I sail through or drop my anchor down  
Was anything enough to kiss the ground?  
And say I'm here now and she's here now  
  
So much wasted in the afternoon  
So much sacred in the month of June  
How bout you  
  
And I will wait to find   
If this will last forever  
And I will pay no mind  
When it won't and it won't  
Because it won't  
And I will waste no time  
Worried 'bout no rainy weather  
And I will waste no time  
Remaining in our lives together_

_- John Mayer_

* * *

Whatever plan she could have come have come up with though would have been no use, for Draco was absent for a few days. She wondered if it was because of his mother. She hoped that for his sake, his mother was all right. Well as all right as you could be in such a catatonic state.

She could barely comprehend how much it hurt for him to see his mother in such a state. His mother was after all the only person Draco had ever loved so unconditionally. So for a while Ginny's grudge against Draco faded, only to be replaced by genuine concern and worry for his welfare.

* * *

One hour more to get home. _One hour_. **_One hour_**. Ron sat at his desk watching the clock on his wall. It was an hour to twelve and that was when this boring night shift ended. Tonight, he had to stay in the office and do some paperwork - the worst nightmare of every Auror.

He sighed, thanking the powers that were for the fact that he was free tomorrow. He sighed wearily once again.

"Done with the sighing, Weasley?" His supervisor Kingsley joked, stepping into his office. Ron grinned at him.

"Please say you've come to tell me that I can go home now." He joked. Kingsley shook his head with mock sadness.

"Sorry, Weasley, got an errand for you." Ron made a face but anything to get himself out of this stifling office.

"Dumbledore found some dark magic weapons of sort in a paticular passageway at Hogwarts. He wants us to collect it. He says it'll be with Professor Malfoy-"

"Malfoy?! Maybe you should send someone else." Kingsley shook his head bemused.

"Take another Auror if you want, but it's very simple. Just get the things and come back. That's that." Ron nodded, knowing there was no way he could wiggle himself out of this one. He could not even visit Ginny as she would not be awake at this time of the night, well she was not _supposed_ to be awake anyway.

That was how Ron and Joe, the other Auror, ended up in Hogwart's staff room, stepping out of the fireplace, dusting themselves. There was no sign of Malfoy or any other professors so they decided to wait a bit. They sat on a wooden bench at the end.

It was then Ron thought he saw something across the room that he recognized. It was on Malfoy's desk and it stood out in the room because of its color.

What his sister had always distinguished as spicy, chilli red, a harsher red than rose red; it was the red of classic lipsticks, rarely found in nature.

His sister had always been proud of her ability to wear chilli red, despite her flaming orange hair, noting each time she wore a particular shawl around her neck that it was a colour most people did not dare to wear.

"Joe." Ron said, every muscle tense, as he stared at the increasingly familiar object on Malfoy's desk.

"Yes."

"Do you see that red cloth?"

"Yes."

"Can you go and get it for me?"

When Joe turned to look at him, he said, "I think it's my sister's."

As Joe stood to retrieve it, Draco himself entered the room from behind where Ron sat. He had come straight from Dumbledore's office, where he had flooded in from St. Mungo's.

Dumbledore had told him about the Dark Arts equipment that the Aurors were coming to collect.

Draco tapped Ron on the shoulder just as he realized what Joe was doing. They stared at each other, one cold, blank, mask-like, and the other red with bristling anger.

"Why do you have my sister's scarf?"

Draco stumbled, knowing that if he spoke the truth, Ginny would be in hot soup. That was the last thing he wanted for her. Shoving thoughts about the promise he had made to himself upon seeing his mother's condition that day, Draco spoke, lying through his teeth.

"She must have left it when she came to my office to see me."

Ron stood and faced him. He was clear eyed and driving fast towards the worst news possible. "Why do you have my sister's scarf?" His nostrils flared with anger as he glared at Malfoy.

"Hello." Draco nodded politely at the other Auror.

Joe held the incriminating scarf in his hand. Ron grabbed it away, his voice growing angry.

"Why do you have my sister's scarf?"

And then it happened. Arching over Ron like a rainbow – prisma color understanding. The way it happened in the Auror cases where Ron was the first person to figure out the missing link between the perpetrator and the victim.

"I think we should go." Joe put his hand on Ron's shoulder to guide him. He shook it off, trembling with anger.

He shot Malfoy a death glare before walking out, not even bothering to collect the things he had come for.

Draco watched them leave, before sitting slumped in his chair, staring at the spot on his desk where the scarf had been. He had taken it by mistaken that night by the lake when they went for that impromptu swim. He had not realised it was hers till the very next day, upon which he had conveniently forgotten to return it to her.

How careless he had been, leaving it there. How was he supposed to know that her brother would come strutting into the staff room and see it? Draco swore aloud, knowing that nobody else would be around at this time of the night. He closed his eyes, resting his forehead on his palm. It was not worth it, all this conflict, and all these emotions just to love and be loved.

He had survived all this while without it so why could he not continue doing so? Yes, he had been a cold heartless bastard during those times but he was still as unhappy as he had been before. Or was he? In his mind's eye he sought her face, laughing, talking, or blushing prettily when he stood near to her. A smile tugged at the ends of his lips- _perhaps_ not so unhappy.

'_Line up, Draco'_ He snapped at himself. He had to get a grip.

He remembered the futile promise he had made to himself, when his mother had been diagnosed.

He vowed never to fall in love, never to love. He would keep that promise. If anything her annoying brother's presence only emphasized this. They were from two fundamentally different worlds, no matter how much he could mellow down or change, they were just not meant to be.

* * *

Ginny ate her breakfast laughing and talking to Luna and Colin, blissfully ignorant of the events that had transpired the previous night.

That is until the owl post arrived.

"Wow, Gin, you've got a lot of owls today eh?" Ginny looked up at Colin's comment as several familiar looking owls swooped down dropping letters on her lap. A prickle of unease filled her as she picked them up. Ignoring Luna and Colin's inquisitive glances, she proceeded to open them one by one.

The first was from Harry:

_Dear Ginny,_

_How is school? It took me a while to reply to your previous letter. In fact, I just got back from my two week long training at Bulgaria with none other than Victor Krum himself. He still can't believe Hermione ditched him for Ron but I told him to get over it, and set him up on a date with Taylor's friend. _

_Taylor was annoying me to no end. She purposely kept flirting with all the Bulgarian players, in front of me. We're all right though as we will be. Am getting off point here. _

_The reason for this urgent letter is because your dense, git of a brother (And unfortunately my best friend as well) Ron seems to have come up with the strangest idea that you and Malfoy have a thing going on-_

Ginny dropped the letter, not bothering to stifle her gasp as she looked up instinctively at the Grand table, which was devoid of Draco's presence. Suddenly she knew what all the other letters must be about. How could Ron know? Ginny was flabbergasted.

"What is it, Gin?" Luna broke into her thoughts. Ginny pushed Harry's letter across the table towards her. Luna and Colin began to read the letter while Ginny read the others.

The one from Bill read:

_Dear Gin,_

_ Please tell me Ron was absolutely smashed when he sent me that letter about you and Malfoy dating. How are you? Fleur's fine. She wants to get married next year._

And he proceeded to talk about Fleur, the upcoming wedding and his job at Gringotts.

Charlie's was along the same lines. Percy's just warned her to stay away from Malfoy because the boy was obviously mad enough to feed her stupid brother Ron rubbish that he would, in his ignorant anger, lap up.

Fred congratulated her about creating quite a stir in the family without their help and waking them all up at this ungodly hour to confirm Ron's mad piece of news.

George wanted to know whether there was a difference between snogging a professor and a student, not that Ginny would know.

Ron might as well have written a Howler.

He wrote in block letters through out his whole letter.

_HOW CAN YOU DO WHATEVER YOU'RE DOING WITH A MALFOY!!!! HE IS A SLIMY GIT WHO HAPPENS TO BE YOUR PROFESSOR AS WELL! I HAVE NOT TOLD MUM AND DAD. IF THEY FIND OUT THEY WILL HAVE A HEART ATTACK, NO THANKS TO YOU! DON'T YOU DARE DENY THIS!! HOW COME YOUR RED SCARF WAS ON HIS DESK??  
_  
RON

"What am I going to do?" Ginny sighed wearily. Luna looked at her sympathetically and a tad appalled while Colin was trying very hard not to laugh. The two girls shot him dirty looks.

"I'm sorry but gosh, Gin, your brothers are hilarious especially Fred and George."

"Now is not the time, Colin." Luna snapped, obviously worried for her friend.

Colin shrank back.

"Well, at least all of them trust your word more than Ron's." Colin stated, trying to reinstate himself.

"How come there was no letter from Hermione?" Luna asked, curious.

Ginny who had been reading the rest of Harry's letter looked up, "She and Ron are not speaking to each other. They had their first major fight as a couple." She explained.

Ginny stood up abruptly.

"Where are you going?" Luna asked, fearing the answer.

"To speak to Draco," Ginny grabbed the letters.

"I don't think that's such a good idea." Luna stood up, bent on persuading her friend to maintain as little contact with Malfoy.

"I agree with Luna." Colin was standing up as well, stuffing a piece of bacon in his mouth. Luna shot him a disgusted look. He gave her a 'a boy has to have his breakfast you know' look. Luna rolled her eyes at him before turning her attention back to her friend who was already walking towards the hallway. Luna ran after her, Colin at her heels.

"Ginny, don't." She skidded to a halt in front of Ginny who looked as if her mind had been set and nothing could change it.

"I _have_ to talk to him. He knows something about this. I'm sure. I mean, at least I have to know how my scarf ended up on his table." Luna seeing her friend's determination, nodded and stepped out of her way.

"Are you sure she's doing the right thing?" Colin asked as they watched Ginny hurry down the corridor towards the dungeons.

"I don't know." Luna murmured, clueless. It seemed as if things had taken an unexpected twist with her brother finding out about it.

* * *

"Draco…" Ginny trailed off as she flung open his room door. He was standing by the window, his back facing towards her.

He turned around slowly to face her.

"You should not have come." He spoke, quietly. She could not see his face contorted with pain and anguish as he stood, concealed by the shadows, as he had been all his life.

"I had to. My brothers know." She took a step towards him, tilting her head up to see his face.

In those oceans grey eyes that she loved were turbulence, a sign of an internal war being waged. It tore her heart to see the familiar pained look on his chiseled face and know that she was the cause of it.

" I know." He murmured, stepping out of the shadows towards her. He could not stay away from her. Just seeing her, her small perfectly formed lips, her translucent as porcelain complexion and those waif like eyes - large, soulful and velvety brown surrounded by widely thick eyelashes, eyes that had cured a man as hard and cynical as himself of all callousness.

"They are against it. Against _us_." She looked down at the stone floor, biting her lip.

He wished she would not do that. It drove him nuts. In a nice way. _Unbelievable_. He was attracted to a Weasley.

She was so unlike the rest of her family, that it did not seem strange though. She had a worldly-wise air, a dark edge, from some sort of experience she must have had. He wondered what it was. As much as she knew about him, there was little he knew about her. He vowed to change that.

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**_Wait a moment_**. He was supposed to be ending this madness, but he could not. He wanted it, needed it.

He reached down to clasp her small hands in his smooth, huge ones.

"It's not as if we're dating or something.." He put his hands on her wrist bones, sliding his fingers slowly up her arms to the elbows under her loose cuffs.

His touch was like heat to her skin, but she felt comfortable with it, as if he had been touching her all her life.

"But we have much more than that." Her words rang true. He had to agree, nodding.

He muttered her name and pressed his palms against her, as though he meant to deliver the full force of himself through her skin.

"_Much_ more." He echoed, removing his hands from her arms.

He tucked one finger inside the collar of her blouse, opening the top button with the gesture.

Ginny sighed softly as he leaned in close to her to fit his mouth to the shallow place at the bottom of her throat.

She felt her body transform itself, become liquid, open itself up, wanting nothing more than more. An absolute stillness followed.

It was a long kiss, if such a touch could be called a kiss. Ginny loved the sensation his lips caused against her skin, one that was to be savoured.

She touched the back of Draco's neck and felt the fine hairs that twirled in a comma there.

He removed his mouth from her throat and pressed his forehead to hers, echoing her earlier sigh, as if only this particular embrace could give him ease.

There was something different this time as well. There was no more light-hearted teasing, but a casual and comfortable intimacy, like a well used blanket.

"What do we do?" She finally broke the silence.

"We have to deny it." He moved away from her.

Seeing the wariness in her eyes and the sudden tensing of her slender shoulders, he back-pedalled.

"Till you're a student in this school, at least." He reassured her,

She strained up to kiss him, squarely on his lips.

"I could not have created this." Draco whispered, as they broke apart, with no notable regret in his voice.

"Your fault as much as mine."

"How? When?" Draco sounded bewildered and overwhelmed.

"Love comes softly."

"Do you have an answer for everything?"

"I wish I did." She laughed, her eyes sparkling beautifully.

"Go before your absence is noted." After another ferverent kiss, she left.

It seemed that their affair had moved into a whole other level. Whether they had wanted it or not. It probably would not have happened so soon, if not for her brother's divine intervention, so to speak.

For to forbid someone of something, especially love, was to drive him or her even more towards it.

* * *

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**A'N: Am glad you guys liked that chapter.. Was worried that it was too fluffy etc. **

**Am also glad you found it funny.. I guess it is a tad humorous. **

Since you liked me talking about my love life here goes – it is at a stand still at the moment..Actually the guy I was absolutely besotted with, not the older one, broke my heart into a million hundred pieces. It seems he has been making fun of me behind my back – I found out when he bitched about me online to my friend…Such a twit right? He suspected I liked him and he's obviously not mature enough to handle it so he did the kindergarten act i.e making fun of me. I was soo crushed when I found out..

and by the way i am eighteen..you mean my writing is soo immature that u think i'm 14?? Am insulted..

**The worst part is that I still fancy him. Am I stupid or what? Sigh, I just feel even sorrier for him. To feel so unconditionally for someone, has to be love right? Sighs.**

**And there**

**The spacing in between the song is cos I copy it straight from the lyrics website and it come out that way no matter how I try to change it..Sorry, ma'am..lol**

**What dance are you confused about?**

**A 'almost did it right there' scene coming up just for you in the soon to come chappies..**

**My rating is changed to PG13..thanks for the tip**

**Never heard of Charlaine Harris? Why did you mention her?**

**Am glad that my writing does not tire you..**

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**Another sneakie peekie BOO!!!!!!!!!!!!**

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He nudged at Luna who was poring over the seating arrangements one last time before submission. She looked up, taking in the pair making their way towards them with piqued interest and curiosity. Now that even she had not seen coming. Their friendly camadrie with each other seemed to have set the Hall abuzz****

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	19. Yellow

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**YELLOW**

Look at the stars,

Look how they shine for you,

And everything you do,

Yeah, they were all yellow.

I came along,

I wrote a song for you,

And all the things you do,

And it was called "Yellow."

So then I took my turn,

Oh what a thing to have done,

And it was all "Yellow."

Your skin

Oh yeah, your skin and bones,

Turn into something beautiful,

You know, you know I love you so,

You know I love you so.

I swam across,

I jumped across for you,

Oh what a thing to do.

Cos you were all "Yellow,"

I drew a line,

I drew a line for you,

Oh what a thing to do,

And it was all "Yellow."

Your skin,

Oh yeah your skin and bones,

Turn into something beautiful,

And you know for you,

I'd bleed myself dry for you,

I'd bleed myself dry.

It's true, look how they shine for you,

Look how they shine for you,

Look how they shine for,

Look how they shine for you,

Look how they shine for you,

Look how they shine.

Look at the stars,

Look how they shine for you,

And all the things that you do.

- Coldplay

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* * *

**

Ginny spend that night replying to Harry and all her brothers, denying Ron's claim flatly.

In her letter to Ron, she stated that she must have left her shawl behind during one of her detention sessions with him and that it was ridiculous for him to even suggest something so unbelievable.

She hated lying but had no choice. Either that or her brothers would hunt Draco down till his dying days while keeping her locked in the room with a chastity belt on.

* * *

Ginny woke up early, the next day, before even the sun had peeked out from behind the horizon. She slipped on her invisibility cloak and headed out of the castle. Whipping the cloak off, she breathed in the dewy scent of dawn breaking as the chilled morning breeze whipped her red hair off her face.

She strolled along the field, the grass a plush carpet of moisture beneath her bare feet, her shoes discarded, miniaturized and in the pocket of her robes.

She had needed to clear her head, be by herself before the day took its toll on her. It was a week till she set foot in the outside world, as a fully-grown wizard.

She watched the giant squid rising from the lake and waving its tentacles. She raised her hand, impulsively and waved back.

"Talking to squids?"

Ginny spun around, startled.

Wide sensuous lips spread into a knowing smile, there stood Jake Hamilton. His mean streak had not marred his boyish good looks.

"What do you want?" Ginny asked, wearily, her hand reaching up to stroke her forehead – a gesture of pure weariness. He had obviously come to blackmail her.

"I came to say sorry." Ginny's head snapped up to meet his remorse filled aquamarine blue eyes. He looked sheepish. Either he was guilty or was a really good actor. With Jake, she could not tell.

Ginny just stared at him expectantly.

"I don't know what got into me. I n_ever_ **not** get what I want, you know, and suddenly _you _wanted to break up with me. I knew you didn't like me the moment you started behaving so distractedly and I just couldn't deal with it, I was doing and saying things I normally never do. I suspected there was someone else but when I found out it was…" His voice trailed off before continuing.

"I always fancied you, Gin. _That _was true. I really liked you. Not for myself. Though I can be an egoistical bastard sometimes but I just wanted you to know that I am not lying when I tell you that I was attracted to you and I still do care about you. I always have." He took a deep shaky breath at the end of his confession.

Ginny was touched but simply nodded. There was nothing else she could say to him or offer him. Her heart no longer belonged to her. It was in Draco's hands.

"We can be friends then?" Ginny smiled, indicating acceptance of his apology.

He looked a trifle taken aback by her swift acceptance of his apology.

"How do you do it, Gin?" His use of her nickname, a suggestion of intimacy did not unnerve her, as it should. Seeing the puzzled look on her face, he continued,

"Forgive so easily, give people second chances. You truly have a big heart." He said it so sincerely, so earnestly that Ginny melted, smiling at him. He took a step towards her, enveloping her in a warm unexpected hug, which she retuned without hesitation.

* * *

Draco sat up in his bed, a smile on his face, as sunlight flooded the room. For the first time, in a long time, he truly felt there was a reason to live and that reason was Virginia Weasley - the light at the end of his dark tunnel.

The whole world could be against them being together but as long as she looked at him, and spoke to him, he would want to live. As long as he could touch her, feel her satin skin beneath his own fingers, he would be hopeful.

He stood, walking towards the window where he pulled the curtains away in one swift movement, closing his eyes as he bathed in the brilliant sunshine. The smile could not seem to come off his lips as he opened his eyes and gazed out at the school grounds.

His gaze stopped momentarily as the sight of a familiar flash of vivid red against the green of the trees.

Something caught in his throat at the sight that met his eyes. _His_ Virginia embracing the stupid hufflepuff git she used to date. Jealousy flashed through him, ice pick, cold, needle sharp and piercing.

He watched them, with perverse morbid fascination, as they stood there for a good few minutes, in each other's arms. He could even see Ginny laughing into that stupid boy's chest as he touched her hair, hair that only _he_ had the right to stroke and caress.

Draco let out a loud growl of frustration that came from the pit of his stomach before he turned away from the torturous sight. He had to start thinking with his head.

Draco had spent his life thinking out worst-case scenarios when anything was to happen but he had not considered the possibility that after last night, Ginny would change her mind.

It had seemed too remote to even think about it and now he was paying the price for trusting, _trusting completely_ as he had never done before. For Ginny obviously did not want him, with his dark past and horrid family background.

She did not want him even though he wanted her, _needed_ her.

What would he do? Now that the only possible source of light was fading, dimming by the minute.

* * *

Colin nearly fell off his seat at the sight of Ginny walking into the hall, her arm linked with Jake's; both of them wearing identical contented smiles.

He nudged at Luna who was poring over the seating arrangements one last time before submission.

She looked up, taking in the pair making their way towards them with piqued interest and curiosity. Now _that_ even _she_ had not seen coming.

Their friendly camaraderie with each other seemed to have set the Hall abuzz. People were glancing towards Jake's ravenclaw girlfriend who looked surprisingly nonchalant.

"Hullo, how's it going?" Ginny chirped, slipping into the seat across form her best friends after Jake gave her a friendly peck on the cheek before heading off to his house table.

Colin looked as if he were about to burst with curiosity.

Luna was more direct.

"I was about to ask you about that." Luna nodded towards Jake at the hufflepuff table.

So Ginny told them about their earlier exchange.

"Sounds like he wants you _baad_." Colin murmured, shooting a dark look at the boy's back.

"How about Malfoy?" Luna asked. Ginny shot Luna a puzzled look.

"Me and Jake are just friends. Jakes knows that." She replied.

"So you're romantically involved with ferret boy?" Colin looked even more annoyed. It was obvious he would rather his friend date Jake than Malfoy.

Ginny shrugged, averting Colin's gaze.

"Speak of the devil." Ginny looked up at Colin's words to see Draco striding purposefully down the hall towards the Grand Table.

He did not greet her, smile at her or even glance in her direction. Ginny, intuitively, felt something amiss.

That feeling followed her around for the rest of the day as she tried to think of ways to eradicate it.

Jake seemed to be everywhere though, walking her from one class to another, bringing her food when she skipped lunch to sit out by the lake with Colin, even confiding in her his hopes of being accepted by Puddlemere United. He insisted that he had nothing else to do because his girlfriend was busy with Auror interviews.

"You could have applied to other quidditch teams right?" Colin asked, frowning, his nerves frayed by the constant presence of Jake, like a persistent mosquito.

"No, Puddlemere's the only one nearest to my home." Jack flashed a sheepish smile at Ginny, for his home happened to be near The Burrow. Colin began to cough violently in a bid to hide his laughter.

"Why Jake, I never knew you flew _that _broom! So which one of my brothers is it?" Ginny teased, grinning.

Jake look horrified.

"No, I-"

"If you're looking for Gin, she won't be there after summer. She's sharing a flat with Luna." Colin explained.

"Ginny!" Luna came running towards them.

Ginny exchanged worried looks with Colin. Now, Luna **never** ran. She hated hurrying. She believed in taking life at a slow pace and pondering over every moment. Something had to have happened.

Ginny stood up as Luna approached, breathless, her flushed face framed by her blonde hair in unruly waves.

"What is it?" Ginny asked.

Luna, glancing at Jake, pulled Ginny by her elbow some distance away.

"It's Malfoy. He's leaving."

"What do you mean leaving?" Ginny felt the horrible feeling this morning double into a numbing sense of dread.

"He tendered his resignation. He's leaving. I heard him telling Professor Paulo." Ginny stared at her friend, an uncontrollable feeling of loss sweeping over her.

"I have to go to him."

"Go then!" Luna said, almost commanding.

Ginny need not have been told twice. She took off for the dungeons.

He could not leave. Why would he leave? Leave _her_?

* * *

She walked into his room. He was standing at his desk, throwing things into a black leather bag.

He did not look up at her.

"Draco, why are you leaving?" She asked, softly, moving towards him.

"The same reason why you're back with Hamilton." He spat out looking at her with the disdain of a Nordic Prince. She stepped back, startled.

"I'm not with him. I'm yours. You should know that." She said it so simply and so matter-of –factly that Draco was bowled over, his anger dissipating instantly.

"I-I-"

"Yes, you made a mistake Draco and I think you'd better think about how much you trust me and how well you know me."

With that she stomped off, livid with indignant anger.

Draco knew how wrong he had been in judging her. He was deeply touched by her frank profession of her feelings but his pride, stubborn hard masochistic Malfoy pride kept him from going to her and apologizing.

* * *

Thus he kept his distance from her.

It was best for both of them.

She was too dangerous for him, made him too vulnerable for his liking.

Ginny was deigned to think that she was forever destined to go for the wrong men.

She had a fatally bad judgment about the opposite sex.

After two days of the cold shoulder from Malfoy, she was certain that things had cooled off between them.

A certain resignation enveloped her about her life. An air that would plague her till the day before her graduation day. The day Draco came to his senses.

* * *

Ron was going to be arriving that morning with his fiancé Hermione and Harry. Her parents and the rest of her brothers would arrive later.

Ginny was sitting in her usual place in the Grand Hall, with her two friends eating breakfast for what would be the last time. A heaviness seemed to shadow her perspective of what should be the happiest and biggest day of her life as a student.

"What time are Ron and all coming?" Colin asked, between mouthfuls of scrambled eggs. Some things never changed.

"Half past twelve." Ginny replied, glancing over at Luna who was busy penning a letter.

"Who's that to?"

"Oh, no one." Luna looked extremely dodgy.

Ginny suspected that this was the American muggle penpal that Luna was especially fond of. He had sent a picture of himself once. He had dark brown hair and bright hazel eyes. Colin thought he looked a bit to slick and smarmy.

Just then one of the school owls landed on the table in front of Ginny.

Ignoring the questioning glances her friends were shooting her, she unfurled the rolled up parchment and read it.

_Virginia,_

_Meet me at the lake. I want to give you something._

_Love_

_Draco._

Her breath caught in her throat at the sigh of his elegant cursive handwriting, penning the words she had so desired to hear from him, despite all statements of otherwise.

She stood, forgetting her breakfast. Luna looked up at her, her brow knitted in confusion.

"What is it?"

"I have to see Draco." Ginny murmured, before striding towards the Grand Entrance, before either of her friends could stop her.

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**Author's note..**

**  
**As for the change in tone in the last two chapters – Love is filled with both light hearted and serious moments is it not? Don't lovers laugh and cry together?

I just want to give you an inkling of what this story will be like, specifically what Draco and Ginny's relationship will be like – bliss, tears, anger, laughter – every emotion possible…

I am SO SORRY I named the great hall as grand hall or whatever…

But seriously WHO GIVES TWO HOOTS..

Yeah well, let's talk about more fun stuff – lemme see – this chapter can probably be considered the calm before the storm – yes, babes and mates, next chappie IS the storm of their affair together – not the end, do not worry..far from it actually..but it is when their love calumniates and moves a notch up, full speed ahead…a sort of compensation for the meanderings of their love affair in the earlier chappies….

Watched POA…its okay..i dun now why but I felt cheated out when it ended..

Perharps its cos of lupin..not AT all what I imagined him to be

Or maybe it was cos the twins actually looked HOT but there had little screen time

Someone tell me how old those actors are PLEASE?? Hopefully they're older than me..am eighteen..

And Ron was funny but like some ditz..when he isn't

Or maybe lack of Ginny…

One thing I am SUPER pleased about – Ron and Hermione tension – LOVED IT

And Draco actually looked kinda cute as the smarmy bloke..Not forgetting FRED AND GEORGE were HOT!!!!!!!!

My love life has reached a peak, I think…At the moment it is sooo complex that I think I beat Ginny and Draco hands down..

So here goes – I'm still very much in love with the guy who behaves like a jerk to me but he's been even more mean to me recently..but I still want him..how sad am I??..I'm also infatuated with this super cute and smart guy in my school whom I got to know through this seminar we attended during June hols..(He's more a distraction from the guy that I'm still besotted over) ..he's got a really nice jaw, is super intellectual and has the sweetest smile EVER…unfortunately, his friend has the hots for me (This guy is really dodgy..he stares at me across the room and doesn't even know me personally but talks about me to his friends)...talk about a mutated love triangle of sorts…the worst of it is that my best guy friend is friends with the both of them and shares a room with the guy who likes me, and he's trying to get me to like that guy…confused? So am i…lol

Enjoyed the story? Have been really busy with exams..next update will be sooner..don't worry..and next chapter is action packed and super looong..

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**Sneakie peekie BOOOO!**

_"What's going on?" Harry came down the stairs, looking taken back by the sight that met his eyes. Ginny sobbing uncontrollably, Ron red faced and fists clenched by his side, obviously seething in anger, Hermione looking thoroughly distressed._

_"**Harry**!" Ginny threw herself upon him, nearly knocking him off balance. Her whole body shook with sobs as she buried her face onto his chest, effectively soaking his robes._

_"What happened?" Harry asked, sternly, putting an arm protectively around Ginny. Ron shook his head and moved towards the window. It was Hermione who spoke._

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**MAKE ME FEEL BETTER AFTER ALL THE CONFUSION IN MY LOVE LIFE AND REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**


	20. Spend My Lifetime Loving You

**SPEND MY LIFETIME LOVING YOU**

Moon so bright, night so fine  
Keep your heart here with mine  
Life's a dream we're dreaming

Race the moon, catch the wind  
Ride the night to the end  
Seize the day, stand up for the light

I want to spend my lifetime loving you  
If that is all in life I ever do

Heroes rise heroes fall  
Rise again, win it all  
In your heart, can't you feel the glory?  
Through our joy, through our pain  
We can move worlds again  
Take my hand, dance with me

I will want nothing else to see me through  
If I can spend my lifetime loving you

Though we know we will never come again  
Where there is love, life begins  
Over and over again

Save the night, save the day  
Save the love, come what may  
Love is worth everything we pay

- Marc Anthony and Tina Arena

* * *

She strode out into the castle grounds, making her way towards the lake, the very tree she and Draco had first sat under together and made civil conversation.

He was already there. He stood a distance from the tree, the sunlight glancing off him, illuminating his silhouette, very much like a Nordic Prince. His statuesque body, chiseled features making him look like a well-maintained statue of a Viking God.

She should have felt scruffy, small and poor in contrast to him but when he turned and looked at her, she felt as if she was the most beautiful woman in the universe, at least in his eyes.

"Virginia." He breathed, reaching out to slip his hand around hers, as though they had been holding hands for years.

Remorse colored his eyes, turning down his lips ever so lightly at the edges, edges lined with laughter lines, lines she longed to kiss and feel their smooth texture against her lips.

"I am sorry." Draco never apologized voluntarily, not in his entire life, not even to his mother whom he loved dearly but here he was begging forgiveness from the only woman willing to give him her heart, her love, her soul so unconditionally and gracefully.

Virginia shook her head, choked with emotion. Mostly regret that this would be the last she would ever see him. She would be leaving Hogwarts after today and there would be no reason to associate with him, as far as her family and friends were concerned.

"I want to ask you something." He spoke, interrupting her melancholic bonhomie.

She looked up at him, his jaw clenched in grim resolve as he gazed down at her.

His eyes, gray stormy were darkened a strange colour.

"What is it?" She asked, her pulse racing from how close he stood to her. How she longed to strain up and press her lips against his. Now was not the time for that though.

"What I am about to ask, do you trust me enough to agree? To say yes?" He studied her intently. She bit her lip, not in indecisiveness but to ponder the reason behind such a strange question.

She decided to let her heart decide the answer.

"Yes, I do." There was crystal clear honesty in her answer. Draco could have swept her up and kissed her right then and there but he had to go on with what he had to say before he lost his courage.

"Really?"

"Yes, yes." Ginny laughed, reaching up to tuck a strand of his wheat blonde hair behind his ear. The gesture touched him, her touch melted him. He had missed that – her warmth, the light in her eyes that she seemed to keep burning for him.

"What was your question?" Ginny asked, curiosity burning through her.

He paused for an interminable moment, looking down at the redheaded angel standing before him, his very own guardian angel he believed. He most definitely did not want to lose her.

Taking a deep breath, "Will you marry me?"

One end of her lips curved up into the beginnings of a megawatt smile as she blinked at him in wonderment. Had she just been proposed to? Her heart was pit pattering in her chest. As taken aback as she was by the proposal, she knew what her answer would be – what she had said earlier.

Draco was on his knee now, his black robe pressing against the moist grass as he looked up at her. He seemed to have slipped out a velvet box and was holding it in front of him. He opened it with a soft click.

Ginny gasped in admiration, awestruck by her luck and sudden turn in events. I

t did not matter that her family would most likely disown her if they found out; that they had only became romantically involved with each other for three month or less and this was by far the most impulsive thing that ever happened to her.

It did not matter that it would be a long and rough road ahead for them as a couple. All that mattered was that Draco wanted to spend the rest of his life with her.

It was a beautiful ring. A sapphire ruby red stone with studs of diamond around it, lay set in the silver band. She had never owned anything that expensive or beautiful before.

"Virginia Weasley, will you do me the honor of marrying me and being my wife?"

Ginny nodded speechless. She _wanted_ him. She was sure of that. She wanted to be with him _forever and ever_.

He slipped the ring gently onto her finger. As he stood up, she held her hand up to study the jewel glinting in the morning sunlight.

"Red for your hair." He murmured.

Unshed tears glistened in her chocolate brown eyes."What is it about you that makes my heart melt?" She asked, fingering his hair.

"That part that loves you?" Draco supplied, cupping her face in his hands.

"That's probably it." She sighed; as he leaned down to kiss her with unrepentant fervor.

His tongue slipped into her mouth and sought hers with an indespicable hunger that made her want more than just kissing and touching. She fingered the ring on her hand. She would have a lifetime with him to explore those areas. She smirked at that thought.

Draco smiled as he felt her lips curve up in a smile against his neck as he nipped at her earlobes, moving to the spot behind her ears. He carressed her with his tongue as she gasped in pleasure.

She gripped onto his arms, as if she would swoon if she let go. He loved how he could reduce her to a state of complete vulnerability and yet not feel in total control of her. At times like these he felt as if he was fast losing himself into her, pouring his soul into hers.

He moved his hands from her face, to her slender swan like neck and slipped her robe off one shoulder, revealing her delicate slender, creamy skinned shoulder. He rained kisses on it, tasting her and feeling her softness.

Merlin, she was driving him crazy. Boy, was he glad that he was on her side. He placed his teeth against her shoulder lightly.

She could hear his breathing, controlled as if he had been running, feel the small jolt through his body as she slipped her hands beneath his robes, pressing them flat against his neatly muscled abdomen.

Her robe slid off her left shoulder even more as he let his lips rove the patch of lusciously creamy skin above her breast. Her fists clenched against his chest as she pulled him closer towards her, hungering for his warmth, touch.

"Ginny?"

It took a while for that familiar but suddenly foreign sounding voice to filter to her conscious mind. Draco heard it, moving away from her instantly.

Ginny took a while to register what had just happened. With a slightly glazed look in her eyes, she turned away from Draco, not before noticing the pain and fear flash through his usually blank as a mask face, a mask she had learnt to read.

What a sight she must have been. Face flushed, cheeks alight a rosy pink, eyes shining a it too brightly, hair mussed up, robes slipping off her shoulder and her breath coming in short and fast gasps.

"Gin?" It was instinctive for him to use her childhood nickname, as if to recall the little sister whom he loved.

Ginny stared at her brother, not knowing what to say to him. She could lie or tell him the truth. His face looked as red as his hair, his fists clenched by his side.

"Ron, back **off**." She stated, her voice so cold that even Hermione winced.

Hermione's eyes flashed over to Malfoy who stood there silent and unmoving, and something seemed to register in the clever witch's mind.

Malfoy had not called her a mudblood, nor put Ron down mercilessly, something he did at every chance he got. _Perhaps_, she thought to herself, musing Malfoy's silent countenance, _perhaps_.

"Back OFF? ARE YOU MAD, GINNY?! DO YOU KNOW WHO HE IS?!" Ron roared, the vein in his neck throbbing as he gesticulated wildly about.

He looked about to have a heart attack. Hermione placed her hand on his arm, in bid to calm him, to make him see what she saw. Ron took a deep breath as if to prepare for the next verbal onslaught.

"Yes, I know who he is, _Ronald_." Ginny retorted, voice dripping with icy sarcasm.

'Tell her, Herm, tell her how she is ruining her life." Ron backpedaled, trying the exasperated exhausted pleading tatic.

Hermione stared back at her fiancé, shaking her head slightly. _This,_ Ron had not counted on.

"This is the scum who calls you a mudblood remember?" Ron spoke softly, a strange sensation of fighting a losing battle flooding him.

"But he is not doing that now, is he, Ron?" Hermione pointed out gently.

Ginny noticed this vote of confidence of Hermione's part. Sensing Ron's momentary weakness, she shot Draco a reassuring look.

He felt ashamed. He should be standing up for her, defending her. She knew this and reached out to squeeze his hand shaking her head. He could not interfere.

Ron caught the movement of her hand, "**DON'T YOU _DARE_ TOUCH HIM!!!!!!!!!"** He roared. Hermione's logical pleas obviously falling on deaf, dense ears.

"I will do whatever I want! What is it to you!? I'm grown witch in case you have not noticed!" She spat back at him, filled with iridescent rage.

So angry was she that she did not even allow Ron to retaliate and simple continued, "**I LOVE HIM**, RON! I LOVE HIM FOR THE MAN HE _WANTS_ TO BE, I LOVE HIM FOR THE MAN HE _ALMOST_ IS, **I LOVE HIM** AND I _DON'T CARE_ WHAT YOU THINK! Ron, I love him and there is nothing you can do about it!"

Draco gaped at his fiancé, humbled by her love for him. A slight smile flicked across Hermione's face.Ginny simply stared at her brother's shocked, flustered face, not wanting to meet Draco's eye.

She was scared by what he would think or say. By phoenix, she loved Draco, loved him to itsy bitsy bits.

She loved him in more ways one could count. Loved the way he loved her, **loved him**.

She loved him so certainly and so clearly that it was difficult to fathom the idea of not loving him.

And he loved her. _That _was the best part.

Ginny hoped Ron would come to his senses and see how real their love was.

Ron snapped out of his shocked reverie.

Without throwing a glance at Hermione, he strode forwards, grabbing Ginny by her hand, manacling her arm in a vice-like grip. He spun on his heel, dragging her along. Ginny had to run to keep up with him.

"Ron! Stop it! You're hurting me!" Ginny struggled to release her hand from his hold but to no avail.

She threw a desperate glance at Hermione who ran along his side trying to plead with Ron not to do anything rash.

Ginny glanced back to see Draco following her, stride for stride. He looked absolutely helpless. She held out her other hand towards him and he grabbed it, holding onto it for his dear life.

He was not going to let her go. Ron noticed this, turning around, his jaw clenched, his neck muscle twitching with anger.

"**Let go of her**." His voice was dangerously soft and it scared even Ginny, who nodded at Draco to let go of her hand. He released his hold of her reluctantly.

She kept her eyes on his as Ron pulled her away, Hermione running beside them. The last she saw of Draco was him standing motionless and alone out in the grounds, framed by the morning sunlight. Ginny wanted to cry.

"I love him, Ron, Why can't you see that?" She sobbed as he came to a sudden halt in the hallway upon reaching the castle.

'I don't give a bloody damn, Ginny! I am not going to stand by and let you ruin your life!" Ron yelled at her, his anger still visible but receding a notch.

"What's going on?" Harry came down the stairs, looking taken back by the sight that met his eyes.

Ginny sobbing uncontrollably, Ron red faced and fists clenched by his side, obviously seething in anger, Hermione looking thoroughly distressed.

"**Harr_y_**!" Ginny threw herself upon him, nearly knocking him off balance. Her whole body shook with sobs as she buried her face onto his chest, effectively soaking his robes.

"What happened?" Harry asked, sternly, putting an arm protectively around Ginny. Ron shook his head and moved towards the window. It was Hermione who spoke.

"Ginny's in love with Malfoy." Ginny froze wondering how Harry would react.

He placed a finger beneath her chin and titled her face upwards so that he could look into her red-rimmed, puffy, coffee brown eyes.

"Is this true, Gin?" Harry asked gently, his arm still around her. Hope surged through her. Perhaps someone would understand.

She nodded, looking back into his emerald eyes.His shoulders seemed to slump with resignation.

"Does he love you?" Ginny felt her tears of joy well up in her eyes. Someone was willing to give them a chance.

"Very much." She whispered.

'**_BULLSHIT_**!" Ron roared. Ginny placed her face against Harry's chest, wishing it were Draco's but not wanting to hear Ron's accusations. Harry seemed to sense this.

"Stop it, Ron! By forbidding it you're only making it worse for yourself!" Harry warned.

"She has her graduation to get ready for. This is supposed to be the happiest day of her life so I suggest you leave her alone for now at least!" Harry admonished, his eyes blazing.

Ginny had never seen him like this before. To think it was in her defense made her feel warm right from the core of her soul.

"Fine!" Ron snapped.

He took a step towards Ginny, pointing a finger right into her face, as he spoke, "But I **_forbid _**you from seeing him."

That was no empty threat and Ginny was clever enough to know that. Her knees buckled and gave away as Ron walked off with Hermione.

Harry caught her in his arms. "You okay?"

She shook her head; tear tracks visible on her cheeks. Harry knelt down besides her, pulling her into his embrace. She sat there for a moment, enjoying the warmth of Harry's body and the peace of the moment.

"I'm here for you, you know that don't you Gin?" Ginny nodded, without looking at him.

"You could have told me." She did not say anything in response.

A minute later, she looked up at him. 'I was scared." She murmured.

Harry nodded, in complete understanding. He leaned towards her and kissed her on the forehead. "You don't have to be. I am here now."

It was then she sensed something amiss and so for reasons she could never understand, she looked up at him, really looked at him.

His eyes, she realized, looked too familiar, too beautiful to be Harry's. She traced his lips with the tip of her finger, before leaning forward to gingerly place her lips on them.

If anyone had rushed out of the Grand Hall, they would have seen Ginny kissing Harry as they knelt on the stone ground.

But Ginny knew differently. The moment her lips touched his, she knew.

"Draco?" She breathed; tense with anticipation yet strangely confident that she was right. His lips spread into a gentle smile.

"A good illusion charm works wonders." He whispered into her ear, his breath tickling her.

She forgot for a moment that they were out in the hallway and imagined that they were somewhere more private, where he could whisper sweet nothings in her ears in that same husky manner.

"Merlin, I love you." She murmured as he helped her up. He flashed her another grin.

To pretend to be Harry must have been a mortal insult but he was shrewd enough to know that was the only way he could get close to her and help her. She was touched beyond anything.

"I never knew you were_ that_ close to Potter." Draco commented as they made their way to the Gryffindor Common Room.

Ginny squeezed his hand, before giving him a watery smile, "Jealous are we?"

Draco snorted. "No bloody way will I ever be jealous.." He trailed off as Ginny silenced him with a kiss, in the middle of the staircase.

"People will think you and Potter have a thing going." He smirked at her when they broke apart.

For a moment he seemed like the old Malfoy, a friendlier improved version at that and she liked him this way. Carefree yet in control, self assured and seemingly unburdened by anything.

"My dream comes true." Ginny shot back, watching his face darken with bemusement.

"Ha ha, Not funny Virginia. I nearly thought I lost you over there."

She shook her head at him, having almost forgotten the drama that had unfolded just a few moments ago thanks to his presence.

"I'm yours." She held up her hand, with the ring firmly placed on her finger, glistening in the sunlight, before muttering the password and darting into the Gryffindor common room.

He stood there for a while, transfixed by her departed image, enthralled by this spate of good luck, to have found such a treasure in such an unexpected place and to know that treasure was only his, no one else's.

He could have jumped and skipped for joy but would not since he still had his Malfoy dignity and self respect. First, though, he would have to undo this charm that made him look like goddamn Potter.

* * *

"Gin?"

Ginny looked up from her seat by the fireplace in the Grffindor common room. She was clad in red and green graduation robes, with the black graduating wizard's hat set jauntily on her head.

She had been staring in the fire, fingering her engagement ring, which she had slipped on a silver chain around her neck.

Colin stood in front of her, looking strangely dignified in his own robes.

"We have to go down now." He smiled at her, anticipation sparkling in his eyes; unaware of how drastically his best friend's life had changed since that morning.

Ginny spread her lips into a smile as well. It was not so difficult to do – the mere thought of Draco and the way he looked at her was enough to make her happy.

_**Almost**_.

Pushing away the memory of her brother's last words before he had left her in the Grand Entrance, she followed Colin out of the portrait hole together with the other graduating Gryffindors.

* * *

He could see that she was wearing the ring- not on her finger but she was still wearing it.

He could see it even from where he stood, right at the back of the crowd, leaning against the doorway, arms crossed across his chest, trying to be inconspicuous.

The sapphire stone glittered in the sunlight flooding through the windows of the Grand Hall as it rested against the patch of creamy flesh in between her collarbones.

He watched as she moved across the stage towards Professor Dumbledore, collecting her certificate before moving towards the center of the stage to bow.

His attractive steel gray eyes held a warm glow of admiration as she received the plaque for topping DADA. Her whole family, who were right in front, clapped the loudest. He spotted her brother Ron beside Potter. He was clapping enthusiastically as well.

Draco was surprised none of them had noticed the chain, especially since she displayed it so obviously, almost as if she were proud of it. He flushed with pride. To have her proud of him was more than he could ever ask for.

He clapped softy as she walked off stage, only to be mobbed by her family and friends. He watched, the stinging envy that flashed through him giving him a great sense of déjà vu. He would get to see her later that night though, her last night at Hogwart.

* * *

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**A/N NOTE:**

Thank you all sooo much for your reviews

The twins are the same age as me..YIPEEE!!!!!!!! I think they look hotter with longer hair!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Short hair makes them look nerdy.

I know this chapter is a bit strange and fast paced but bear with me…I cant wait to unfold this epic love affair even more..YOU'RE SO GOING TO LOVE IT..let me know though..so I'll know I'm on the right track..

Sorry if you found the previous chappie a bit strange..i just needed a prelude before their entire relationship take off..

And I you think it's a very spur of the moment thing, that's what love is all about, dears – when it comes, it comes..

**Sneakie peekie boo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**

_Ginny hugged her elderst brother one last time and clung to him a bit more than the rest. Bill's eyes, lined with concern met Ginny's own as he pulled away from her embrace._

_"What is it, Gin?" She shook her head, her lips curved up into a painful smile, her eyes downcast. If it had been any of her other brothers', they would have mistaken this melancholy due to leaving Hogwarts._

**REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!**


	21. Slide

**SLIDE**

___Could you whisper in my ear_

_The things you wanna feel__I'll give you anything_

_To feel it coming_

_Do you wake up on your own_

_And wonder where you are_

_Y__ou live with all your faults _

_I wanna wake up where you are_

_I won't say anything at all_

_So why don't you slide_

_Yeah were gonna let it slide _

_Don't you love the life you killed_

_The priest is on the phone_

_Your father hit the wall_

_Your ma disowned you _

_Don't supposed I'll ever know_

_What it means to be a man_

_Something I can't change__I'll live around it _

_I wanna wake up where you are_

_I won't say anything at all_

_So why don't you slide_

_And I'll do anything you ever dreamed to be complete_

_Little pieces of the nothing that fall_

_O__h may__Put your arms around me_

_What you feel is what you are_

_And what you are is beautiful_

_Oh May_

_Do you wanna get married or run away_

_And I'll do anything you ever dreamed to be complete_

_Little pieces of the nothing that fall_

_Oh may_

_Put your arms around me_

_What you feel is what you are_

_And what you are is beautiful_

_- Goo Goo Dolls_

_

* * *

_ Ginny hugged her eldest brother one last time and clung to him a bit more than the rest. 

Bill's eyes, lined with concern, met Ginny's own as he pulled away from her embrace. "What is it, Gin?"

She shook her head, her lips curved up into a painful smile, her eyes downcast. If it had been any of her other brothers', they would have mistaken this melancholy due to leaving Hogwarts.

Not Bill though, Bill the brother she had been closest to since she was born, the brother who had helped her overcome the nightmares of her second year. Bill saw that something was troubling her.

She could not tell him however, not with the rest of the family milling about in the hallway, waiting for them. They were going to return to The Burrow, having been in full attendance for the Graduation Dinner. Fleur had left earlier, having some sort of family dinner of her own. Ginny would return tomorrow on the Hogwarts Express.

"Tell me." His grip on her arms tightened slightly, as urgency filled his voice.

Bill felt it in his soul, no place else, felt mean certainty drive through him that something was amiss. He followed Ginny's gaze and his eyes landed on Ron. Ron, feeling the intense gazes of both his siblings by the prickling of the hair on the back of his neck, glanced at them.

Bill saw the way his eyes locked with Ginny's, a foreboding wariness there. _Something_ was going on and his name was not Williams Weasley if he did not find out.

"Goodnight Bill…thanks for coming." She kissed him on the cheek, in a bid to reassure him.

"You're my sister. Why would I not come?" He chided her, affectionately patting her head.

He only wanted her to be happy – that being his lifelong mission towards Ginny, a vow made the moment his mother had placed her as an infant in his arms.

She grinned, walking out with them to the Grand Entrance, bidding them goodbye as they walked off onto the grounds, with the other departing families, into the night.

She turned back and walked into the castle, the weariness of having to put up a farce of being utterly joyful and happy draining her to the very core. She felt incredibly sad that she was unable to share with her family the cause for her inner bliss.

There was only one thing that could provide the relieving balm to her exhaustions. She wished she could summon him towards her.

She walked down the stairs leading to the dungeons, hoping to see him and at least steal a few moments before going back up to the Gryffindor tower.

* * *

"Ron."

Ron, who had been involved in a heavy discussion with Harry about Chudley Cannon's probability of winning their next match, glanced back at his brother.

Bill had been walking right behind him, by himself. He nodded towards Ron, indicating for him to walk beside him as they made their way to Hogsmead.

Ron had a vague idea that this had something to do with Ginny. As he fell into step with his eldest brother, he felt undeniably wary – where he was overprotective of Ginny, Bill was plain selfless when it came to his sister.

The rest of the family barely noticed, absorbed with Fred and George's antics right in front of the group.

"Yeah?"

Bill did not believe in beating around the bush. Keeping his eyes on the path ahead, "What's up with Ginny?" He asked.

Before Ron could even process the question in his mind, "The _truth_, Ron." Bill added, sternly.

"Eh..wel.. I-I..She-she."

Bill let out an impatient grunt. "Get with it, will you." He urged.

Ron took a deep breath, "She's in love with Malfoy."

"Are you sure?" Bill asked immediately, without even thinking.

"Yes, I..I..I caught them..kissing."

Ron felt horrible to be the bearer of such news to his brother.

He did not even dare look at Bill's face. A heavy tainted silence hung between them as they continued walking, Mother admonishing at the twins as they walked into Hogsmead.

When he finally plucked the nerve to look up at Bill, after three minutes of uncharacteristic silence from him, he was relieved yet at the same time terrified.

Where he had expected to be anger, uncoiled fury - there was plain sorrow. What scared him however was what this might possible mean.

Bill was frowning, deep in thought, a strange sadness etched in every line of his face - so deeply that even his mother noticed it just before he stepped into the fireplace at the Three Broomsticks and flooed back to The Burrow. She promised herself to speak to him. She presumed that it had to do with seeing Ginny all grown up.

* * *

"Dra-" Her words were forgotten as she stepped into his room, his lips effectively sealing hers.

She felt him pin her against the door that she had just shut behind her. His hands cupped the back of her head as he kissed her with all the longing and passion of a man not having finished his task that morning.

A thrill sought through her, traveling from the ends of her toes and the top of her head, right down to the spot between her legs. His kisses were harshly desirous and she loved it. It was almost primal. His tongue sought hers with a numbing urgency, a giddy hunger.

She felt ready to do just about anything. _This was what it felt like to be crazy_ Ginny guessed, kissing him back with unfermented passion. A low moan escaped her as his lips formed a fiery, hot, wet trail down to the base of her throat.

He pushed her dress robes easily off her shoulders and stopped suddenly, gazing in prideful admiration at the his engagement ring resting on the spot between her collarbones, just above her bosom, as if she were his, branded by that beautiful ring, its sapphire stone glistening in the light.

He leaned down, raw hunger to take further ownership of this beautiful woman, bursting in him. He ran his tongue along her rigidly delicate collarbones. She gripped the front of his robes, her fingers fisted around the fabric, trying to contain herself.

He moved back up her neck to nip at her lips suggestively, before devouring her again, tasting her, savoring every moment as if this was the last time. She did not protest and did not even struggle when he lifted her up in his arms to carry her to the bed.

* * *

"Bill."

Bill turned, at the foot of the steps, planning to head up to his bedroom and retire to bed. Everyone else had either gone home or gone to bed.

Besides, he had a long day tomorrow and he had to owl Fleur. Also, he needed to think a bit more regarding the latest revelation about Ginny.

His mother, however, took top priority at the moment, standing very imposingly by the stove.

"What is it, Mum?" He asked, patiently.

"Come have some hot chocolate with me, like the old days." Bill grinned.

How could he resist? During the days before Hogwarts, he used to always drink hot chocolate with Mum before going to bed. That used to be their time together, not even Dad was allowed to interrupt. It was a time when mother and son bonded.

He walked back towards the kitchen, slumping down into the nearest chair, spreading his long legs out under the table as Mum bustled around the kitchen.

"Here you go." She smiled widely at her firstborn son, setting down two mugs of steaming hot chocolate in front of them.

Bill took a tentative sip of his, smacking his lips in a gesture of appreciation.

A moment of peaceful silence filled the air between them. It was Bill who broke it, speaking up while staring up at the clock, staring fixedly at Ginny's hand on it, which was pointed to school.

"Do you think Gin'd make as a good a mother as you are?" His question startled and delighted his mother.

"Doubly good, if I dare say so myself. Why? Have you found someone you think she'd like?"

Bill looked towards his mother studying her, her face brimming with earnestness. _Could she deal with it?_ He wondered. She was a strong woman, one who would not crack under pressure. _This _was different however.

"Perhaps." He replied cautiously, not wanting to raise her motherly hopes.

"I always thought Harry was perfect for her but between you and me, over the years I've come to realize that Harry doesn't cut it. Ginny's too strong for him – she's quite domineering some times y'know." His mother stated in a conspiratory tone.

"You boss Dad around." Bill rebutted, amused.

Molly clucked her tongue sharply, shaking her head somberly.

"That's different, Bill. Besides, he likes to be bossed around and told what to do." Bill stifled a snigger.

Trust his mother to come up with her own rules.

"You look strained." She mentioned gently.

Bill looked away from her, expelling a long deep breath before speaking. "It's just with the upcoming wedding and all."

Mum nodded understandingly. "Must be worse for Fleur."

Bill smiled wanly.

"I think I'd better get to bed, Mum." He stood up, the chair legs scraping against the floor as he stood.

She smiled at him as he leaned down to hug her.

"Don't worry about Gin, Bill. She'll find her way." She murmured into his ear before he straightened up and considered his mother and her seemingly appropriate words.

With a nod, he strode towards the stairs, taking two steps at a time towards his bedroom.

* * *

She felt thrilled, tremulous after the event. Ginny was still trembling and quivering after he gently eased himself out of her.

The pain, oh, the pleasurable pain that had filled her entire being till she had floated away to some place where there was nothing, nobody, not even air except for Draco and herself.

She shifted slightly beneath him and he pulled away. But as he did so, he pulled her with him, nestling her within the comma that his body made, as one might cradle a child. She arranged herself to fit his larger embrace.

"Draco."

"Yes." Their voices were husky, post sexual rasp.

"Merlin. How extraordinary."

"It was wondrous, to become one in this way." Draco whispered throatily.

The room felt hushed and cool, silent as if in a mark of respect for their meeting of souls, bodies.

"It is a wonder with you." She whispered, "It is _with you_."

He grunted in agreement, burying his face in her hair. She smiled contentedly, as she listened to his breathing, before she fell asleep.

* * *

Bill sat up with a jolt, sometime in the wee dark hours of the morning. Something had woken him up.

"The ring." He muttered to himself out loud, in the still darkness of his old bedroom.

As if the memories that had settled in his subconscious mind from yesterday had risen to surface in his sleep, and one particular memory had nagged at him till he woke up.

A tiny detail that had escaped him then but not _now._

The chain Ginny had been wearing around her neck .The one with the intricate sapphire ring hanging from it. It flashed in his mind as clear as day.

The chain swinging off from her neck, the ring so evident yet unnoticed for she must have tucked it into her robes later. She could not have bought it herself.

**Malfoy.**

Had to have been him but what did it mean? A promise ring? A farewell gift? A token of remembrance? An end to a forbidden romance? Merlin he hoped so.

Bill sighed wearily. He did not need this. He trusted Ginny but what _was_ she _thinking_. He would have to talk to her.

Kicking the blankets away, Bill rose from the bed, brushing the lingering remnants of sleep away as he penned a note down.

A few minutes later, he sent it via the family owl to Ginny after muttering a silent Celtic prayer that he had been taught as a child, and barely used or believed in but desperate situations called for desperate measures.

* * *

She woke the next morning, her head resting in the crook of Draco's arm.

The morning sun made a hot oblong of light on the emerald covers. All around them was the soft cotton of over washed sheets – almost silky, almost black- and beyond the austere mahogany of the carved furnishings: the wardrobe, the bed, and the side tables.

There were male garments strewn upon a chair and on the floor cloth, which has been painted to resemble a rug. She looked up at the pattern on the sage tin ceiling. That was when Draco stirred beside her.

"Morning." He greeted, burying his face into her hair. She could feel him draw in his breath, take in her scent.

"Coffee…coffee laced with caramel." He stated, raising himself on his elbow, staring down at her.

"What?" She was bewildered.

"That's what you smell like." She blushed, glancing away from him.

He smirked; amazed by her ability to still blush with such quaint, pretty shyness after all that they had done last night.

It was then that the continuous pecking sound on his window registered in their minds.

"It's an owl." Draco muttered without even looking towards the window.

Ginny could see that it was a small owl, calmly packing against the window rhythmically

Reluctantly, Draco stood up from the bed, trailing his hand along the length of her arm, as though he could not physically bear to remove himself from her.

Ginny watched as he gracefully slid on his black silk boxers before walking towards the window and yanking it open.

The owl fluttered into the room, zooming around the ceiling a few times before landing in front of Ginny, on the bed with muffled 'thump', feathers fluttering everywhere.

Draco looked bemused. Ginny caught his eyes and grinned apologetically. Before he could tackle her and kiss her senseless, she untied the note from the owl's feet.

She recognized the Weasley family owl and was not surprised to see that the note was from Bill. It was the contents of the letter that sent her into panic – small clumps of wet sand drizzling down inside her chest.

_Dear Gin,_

_I need to talk to you. When you return to The Burrow today, would it be all right for you to meet me at Cauldron's Inn for supper. It is urgent that I speak to you. I already told Mum I would like to see you before leaving for France. I will not be at home when you get back, but with Fluer so it is necessary that I meet you. _

_Don't fail me_

_Love_

_Bill_

'What is it?" Draco saw the shade of white her face had turned.

She thrust the letter in his hand, speechless, the wheels in her head turning.

"So? He just wants to talk to you." He arched an eyebrow, confused.

"He makes it out to be some emergency of some sort." Ginny ran her fingers through her hair, making it even more voluminous and messy.

"It's probably nothing, Virginia." The use of her name, from his lips, soothed her temporarily as she rested her head against his shoulder as they sat up, leaning against the headboard of the bed.

But Ginny _knew_ it was something. As Draco snaked one arm around her bare waist, pulling her towards him, she tucked the sheets under her arms and moved towards him, she could feel it in her blood.

A sudden mean certainty, a sense of things falling miserably into place.

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**Author's note**:

**IMPORTANT: I heard that Ginny is short for Ginerva and that it says so in JK Rowling's website. I was not aware of this when I started this story so I shall stick with Virginia. I don't really have a choice. Ginerva is a bit of a mouthful for Draco compared to Virginia, anyway.**

I like the fact that I rendered you speechless with my previous chapter…

Glad you like the illusion charm..

I thought Draco should be a bit snarky – I like snarky guys..they turn me on..hehe

She said she loved him for the man he almost is, and the man that he wants to be because that is exactly who Draco is at the very present moment – so she loves him for who he is – he is almost a man, still a nineteen year old boy, he also desires to be better man for himself and for Ginny and she loves this about him..Got it???

Kill Ron? NEVER!!!!!! Poor Hermione would be in tears..and no kicking him in the crotch. That might render him infertile and that there won't be any little 'Hermione's and 'Ron's running around..

The illusion charm seemed unrealistic to you?? Come on, this is the world of magic – anything's possible.

I make Draco so hot, even I'm kinda nuts about him..haha

Hermione's reaction could be considered far fetched if you're not a clever witch at her – its all in the non verbal action and dear Hermione knew this..she does not like Malfoy but understands from the way he stood, his stance and his inability to pick a fight with Ron that he is a different person..

OF COURSE I LOVE YOU GUYS!!!! and you reviews of course..who said love was unconditional??? Only Draco and Ginny's love have that unique quality..lol

It's his last night seeing her, cos she won't be in Hogwarts anymore – at least that's what they both think..

Hope this chapter was full-on..some say the previous chappie was rushed, some say not..who do I listen to..is this what they call mixed reviews??? Lol.

One thing – no one told me how the snog scene was!!! As a punishment, the lovemaking scene in this one will be omitted..kidding..just didn't feel like going into explicit details..

Btw, thought I'd like you to know about my progressing love life – I'm still head over heels for the jerk, he continues to intrigue me..but it seems to be fading away..i hope..remember the sweet guy I was talking about in the previous chappie – smart, intelligent, nice jaw etc – I used to check him out since last year but as you know only now, I have developed a full on infatuation for him..i mean, goodness, he is like my last hope at a love life..i am SICK of unrequited love..i am eighteen – it's about time I got my first kiss, first date with a guy I liked..and he seems quite friendly and he's sooo sweet..sigh..

Just thinking about him makes me smile..i wish I could marry him..i really do..i mean, he's so earnest, so handsome, so intelligent, so charming..and when he smiles at me, it's like my whole world lights up, like everything's perfect and fine even if I'm having my worst day ever…he has the best smile in the world…it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside..it's been a long time since I felt that way..i mean jerk guy just made feel hollow cos he could never return the feelings I feel for him or heart attackish when he got near me or text messaged me..

I could go on and on about sweet guy…I just wished he'd like me back and see me the way I see him..oh well..

A SNEAK PREVIEW:

_"We have to talk." She stepped away from him. He looked at her curiously, having been imagining kisses, tender words and if he was lucky - making love even but she seemed to have other ideas._

_"Why didn't you tell me?" Ginny crossed her arms across her chest. Draco studied her for a minute, admiring the dark flashes in her brown eyes._

**GIMME TILL 550 REVIEWS AND I WILL UPDATE THE NEXT CHAPPIE!!!!!!!!!! I love blackmail**…


	22. Hanging by a Moment

**HANGING BY A MOMENT**

_Desperate for changing  
starving for truth  
closer to where I started  
chasing after you _

I'm falling even more in love with you  
letting go of all I've held onto  
I'm standing here until you make me move  
I'm hanging by a moment here with you

_forgetting all I'm lacking  
completely incomplete  
I'll take your invitation  
you take all of me now_

_I'm falling even more in love with you  
letting go of all I've held onto  
I'm standing here until you make me move  
I'm hanging by a moment here with you _

I'm living for the only thing I know  
I'm running and not quite sure where to go  
and I don't know what I'm diving into  
just hanging by a moment here with you

_there's nothing else to lose  
there's nothing else to find  
there's nothing in the world  
that could change my mind  
there is nothing else  
there is nothing else  
there is nothing else_

_desperate for changing  
starving for truth  
closer to where I started  
chasing after you_

_I'm falling even more in love with you  
letting go of all I've held onto  
I'm standing here until you make me move  
I'm hanging by a moment here with you _

I'm living for the only thing I know  
I'm running and not quite sure where to go  
and I don't know what I'm diving into  
just hanging by a moment here with you  
just hanging by a moment  
hanging by a moment  
hanging by a moment  
hanging by a moment here with you

- Lifehouse

**

* * *

**

Ginny closed her eyes momentarily, wondering why love should hurt so much especially when it felt so right.

Standing in her bedroom that looked so alien to her – its sweetness, innocence, cream pink walls, Quidditch posters starring some good looking English players – feeling so removed from these supposedly familiar surroundings, Ginny felt alone and lost.

She stared out through her window at the green expanse of field, grass and trees. Shouts of her brothers and Harry as they degnomed the garden filled the air. She could hear Hermione in her brother's room upstairs, puttering around. She could smell the distinct scent of chocolate wafting up from the kitchen where her mother was busy baking her a 'Welcome Home' cake.

Ginny felt an unbearable ache in her chest – she loved her family, loved her home. The only reason for this sudden detachment was that Draco was not here, with her, to enjoy this _with_ her.

If only her two worlds could meet, could combine. Her worst fear, she realized as she fingered the ring on her chain, was that she would have to sacrifice one in order to live in the other.

That was exactly what she told Bill that night, speaking in soft quiet tones. Bill had been sympathetic but she could see the disappointment in his eyes, regret deep rooted in the sky blue of his eyes that his precious sister was in love with a Malfoy.

When she had first arrived, the conversation had been casual, almost amiable till Bill asked with somberness that startled her, no matter how mentally prepared she had been for this, who had given her that ring. He had pointed his index finger at the silver chain around her neck, his eyes glinting questioningly.

She had paused for a moment to breathe in deeply before telling him the truth, in its whole entirety. She had made him swear not to tell Mum and Dad or even Ron, pleadingly attempted to convince him of Draco's change of heart and character.

She had told him that they were in love and there was nothing anybody could do about it, with a defiant sparkle in her eyes and her chin jutting out stubbornly.

He had listened to her patiently, heart breaking into tiny bits and pieces. His _sister_. _His_ _Ginger_. He wondered if she remembered his special nickname for her when she had been a child, a little girl.

He loved his mother's Ginger tea and had been the only child to take such a strange liking to such a weird tasting drink. Till Ginny was born. She loved it more than he did and it pleased him immensely to share such a thing with her. Thus, he had dubbed her _Ginger_, for he loved her as much as his favorite drink, most times more so.

Maybe this sudden bitterness was why he told her, upon the mention about her engagement to Malfoy, that life was not happily ever after and golden sunsets.

"The person you love is rarely worthy of how big your love is. Because n_o one_ is worthy of it and maybe no one deserves the burden of it. You will be let down, disappointed, have your trust broken and a lot of bad days. You wind up losing more than you win. You hate the person you love as much as you love him. But you roll up your sleeves and work at everything - that is what love is – work."

She did not look as flabbergasted as he hoped she would. Her lips were pressed into a thin determined line as her gaze fixed on a spot above his shoulder as if she was pondering his words.

Then she turned her gaze upon him, a dreamy smile on her face. "He's worth it."

And Bill _knew_, knew then with a stunning clarity that there was nothing he could do to stop her from loving Malfoy. And only a fool would think otherwise.

That was only the beginning and Ginny knew it but for a while it seemed that things had settled. Ron seemed to be placated by the fact that Ginny was at The Burrow, not in a hundred mile radius from Malfoy, which was good enough for him.

Though if he could ship her to Timbuktu, he probably would. For now though he was sure that she had taken his advice and was keeping away from Malfoy.

Only Bill knew otherwise but he was in France, encumbered with wedding preparations. Besides, he was smart enough and adored his sister too much to do anything drastic. So Ginny was safe for a while.

She felt happy in her little temporary world of apartment hunting with Luna, lunch outings with her friends, exchanging letters with Draco via owl post and spending the cool summer nights with her parents.

For a while she thought life was not bad, not so bad after all.

Until one morning before she set off to meet Luna at the Leaky Cauldron. They were going to meet the landlord of an apartment beside it.

She received a letter from Draco:

_My Dearest Virginia,_

_I will be leaving tomorrow morning for a trip to Sri Lanka with mother. The healer has highly recommended a certain traditional Indian aruvedic treatment available there that might cure mother. I need to speak to you before I leave. Can I do it via the floo network tonight at midnight? _

_Yours_

_Draco_

Ginny felt something tighten in her stomach. How long would he be gone? She already missed him, his eyes, his touch, and his kisses. Missed him like the flower missed the sun, the clouds missed the rain.

She scribbled a quick reply before darting down the stairs, grabbing her cloak and with a quick 'I'll be home for dinner" to her mother apparated to the Leaky Cauldron.

There she met Luna who had confirmed rent for the flat.

"But you didn't even let me see it." Ginny snapped at her.

"It was fine and you were late. Calm down."

Ginny did not say anything, just staring blankly ahead. She was angry, angry that she had barely gotten to see her fiancé all week just because her family would not approve of him. They did not even know him.

"What's eating you anyway?" Luna asked, thanking Tom for their drinks.

"Nothing." Ginny looked down at the table.

She could tell Luna after all, the girl even knew about Malfoy's proposal.

"It's just that.. I don't know but – I- I miss him, Lu." She felt tears well up in her eyes instantly.

Luna looked at her friend startled by this sudden display of emotion. "Go and see him then."

"How? Where…" She trailed off as her eyes lit up. "I'll go to the Malfoy Manor."

Luna blanched. "Are you mad? Do you know how many wards surround that place?"

Ginny stood up, having already made up her mind.

"Well, I'll never know till I try won't I?" With that she was gone.

Luna was right. She could not get within a mile radius from the Manor backed by a ridge of high woody hills, from a distant looked more like a castle than anything else.

Sweeping, manicured lawns, which surrounded the looming mansion, was boarded by a low, rose-colored brick wall. To the side, where there was a small gate, obviously the back exit towards the woods, a stone path leading towards a stream of some natural importance, which seemed to swell into something of greater importance, possibly a lake in the woods Ginny mused.

Stately oaks encircled the mansion itself, their massive branches dripping curly grey moss over it protectively like embracing arms. The house sat like a southern coquette with her wide hoped skirts ballooned around her. The brick had been kept a pristine white, lending her an air of domineering prestige.

A file of Corinthian columns adorned the front, three on each side of the front door. They supported the second story balcony over the wide veranda that surrounded the house.

White wrought iron as lacy as a petticoat bordered the balcony. Forest green shutters flanked tall windows that gleamed like mirrors in the sunlight. An aura of serenity hovered over the house like the magic mist that surrounded the castle in a fairy tale

A gravel drive arched in front of the house leading from the tall wrought iron gate where Ginny stood; unable to enter it for it was securely locked by magical means.

For a while, that was not Ginny's concern. She was _delighted_. She had never seen a place for which nature had done more, or where natural beauty had been so little counteracted by an awkward taste. She was warm in her heartfelt admiration, and at the moment felt, that to be mistress of Malfoy Manor might be something!

She ran her fingers over the large cursive M inscribed on the wall, beside the gate.

She was in love, not with Draco, him too of course, but with _this place_. She had expected a large, handsome stone building of sorts but this was more, this was a place she could imagine calling home. She could already imagine how welcoming it would look with wicker furniture dotting the porch.

Realizing that there was nowhere she could get in, she apparated back to the inn where Luna was waiting patiently.

"Couldn't get in?" Luna asked.

Ginny nodded her head, eyes glazed as she reminisced about the house.

"Oh, Lu, I'm in love." She murmured dreamily.

Luna gave her a quizzical look.

"That's quite obvious isn't it? I mean-"

"No. I mean, his house….the Malfoy Manor….it's like a dream…Like Hogwarts but better, more like a home." Ginny gushed.

Luna frowned.

"Are you sure you got the right house?"

That snapped Ginny out of her dreamy reverie.

"_Yes_, of course."

"Maybe inside it's filled with cobwebs or it has dungeons and secret passageways." Luna's imagination was taking off.

"Maybe." Ginny agreed, but she was too absorbed in her fantasies of going for walks by the river, hand in hand with Draco, just before the sun rose.

"Hullo, ladies."

Ginny's head jerked up in surprise. "Harry!"

"Yes, that's me. How are you both?"

"Okay." Ginny smiled at him.

"Fine." Luna muttered politely.

Harry stared down at her for a moment, as if seeing her for the first time, then he averted his flushed face towards Ginny.

"What are you doing here?" Ginny asked him, before he could ask her.

"Nothing really. On a break from work. Running some errands. " He looked rather dodgy about it for some reason.

"Where's Taylor?" Ginny queried. Harry's face went red for a couple of minutes, before glancing down at Luna who raised an inquiring eyebrow at him. He looked away from her instantly, embarrassed.

"Eh..well..we-broke up."

"Oh! Harry! Why didn't you tell me?" Ginny asked, concerned, or as concerned as she could be considering how spent she was.

"I, It was more my fault. She wasn't really my type." He explained. Luna startled them both with a snort.

At the two questioning glances, "Well, that's what they all say after a breakup."

Ginny shot her a dirty look. Luna had never really been particular fond of Harry – always thought he thought too much of himself especially after working with him through the war.

"Are you okay, Gin? You look rather worn out." Harry observed, ignoring the other strange girl.

"A bit tired I suppose. Lu and I've been house hunting." He nodded, but his green eyes bored into her in Dumbledore fashion.

"Well then, I'll see you around."

Before he turned to walk off, however, "Thought you'd like to know - Malfoy's been down for quidditch trials at Falcon Falmouth for thee seeker position."

Ginny gaped at him as he nodded and walked off.

"Why does he think _you_'d like to know?" Luna spoke first, voicing one of the many questions running through Ginny's mind.

"And Quidditch? But Lu, Draco's not a very good seeker. I mean in the all time he played at Hogwarts, he only caught the snitch was when he was playing against Hufflepuff." Ginny murmured, even more worried. "What's he thinking?"

"Maybe Harry knows about you and Malfoy." Luna mused.

"_Maybe_?! Of course, he knows!! Ron would have blabbed to him." Ginny looked disgruntled.

"Well, he doesn't really seem to mind, does he?"

Ginny shook her head, "That's the least of my worries, Lu. What in the wizarding world is Draco up to is what I'd like to know."

"You're seeing him tonight, right?" Luna pointed out, patiently.

"Yes but-"

"Patience is an underrated virtue, Gin." Ginny sighed, burying her face in her hands.

* * *

"Why so restless, darling?"

Ginny snapped out of her tortured reverie, looking towards the head of the table where her parents sat, looking at her concernedly.

Dinner had been a rather quiet affair with only Ron and herself in attendance, the both of them the only ones living at The Burrow. Harry had gotten himself an apartment, the twins stayed in the house above their shop at Diagon Alley.

"Just thinking about the new apartment and moving.."

Her father nodded encouragingly while her mother bristled, unable to do anything more for she had come to the realization that her brood of children were growing up and moving away.

Ron however looked rather aghast. "You're moving out? So fast? But you just graduated? How did you find a place?"

Ginny stifled a laugh. She had not really spoken to Ron since that day, avoiding him or ignoring him, worst came to worst.

"Luna found a nice apartment. At diagon Alley." She looked towards her parents, "Near Fred and George."

"And mum, you can come visit me anytime." She flashed a tender smile at her mother.

Ron was still not happy. "But Ginny, it's way too soon for you to be moving-"

"I don't see what the problem is Ron," her father spoke up, "She'll be living with Luna, who is a rather sensible girl."

At this all other thee Weasleys – mother, daughter and son snorted. Only Dad would think that of Luna, Ginny mused.

"So I'll be the only one living at The Burrow." Ron moaned.

"Go live with Harry then." Ginny suggested, feeling a tad sorry for her brother.

He went slightly red then, shaking his head. "No..don't want to..he needs his own life, y'know. Besides…" He trailed off wistfully.

Ginny was sure what her brother's plans were and why he was not ready to splurge on a bachelor pad for himself – he was saving up to buy a nice house for Hermione and himself.

She had to give him credit but she could not help, noting with a hint of pride that no house could beat the beautiful Malfoy Manor.

Ginny glanced up at the clock wishing it were closer to midnight. She missed Draco, having not seen him for much too long a time.

* * *

After what it seemed like the longest possible span of time in her entire life, the clock struck twelve. Grabbing her invisibility cloak, just in case Ron decided to pop into the kitchen for a late night snack of some sort, she slipped out of her room, quietly darting down the stairs.

The entire house sat in darkness, still with night as all its occupants slept, even the ghoul in the attic. She entered the kitchen, noting that the fire in the fireplace was still burning. She sat down in one of the kitchen chairs to wait.

"Virginia." Ginny spun around to face Draco's head in the fireplace.

He looked unnaturally weary, with dark circles under his eyes, his grey eyes vacant and dank, and his hair framing his face in waves having been allowed to grow quite a bit. If he did not trim his hair soon, he would have a ponytail just like Bill's. That thought made Ginny smile. And seeing her smile, made him smile a bit as well.

"Draco." She breathed, numb with anticipation as she knelt before the fireplace.

"I've charmed the wards to let you in so you can get through. Apparate to the Malfoy Estate'. " He instructed.

Ginny nodded, before standing up and pulling her wand out.

She apparated right into his arms, burying her face instinctively into the crook of his shoulder.

"You see I never stopped loving you, even though I couldn't see you." She murmured, raising her head to look at him.

His gray eyes were dark with emotion. He looked at her with desire, with longing, with need – so open that she was touched. Ginny knew those emotions were reflected in her own eyes, because she felt each one like a hunger pain that would not go away till she fed herself, until she feasted on him.

She touched his face with the back of her hand, noting the weary lines beneath his eyes that she had seen earlier. They were standing right at the edge of the woods, in the misty air of the night almost reminiscent of their nights together at Hogwarts.

Sounds of nature filtered around them – the gushing of water, a family of squirrels scrambling into a tree, a pack of birds scattering in squawking protest and then their, breathing – fast, furious and steady.

Then his voice beside her ear – "_Ma chere_…"

Ginny pulled away from him, amused and startled.

"You called me darling…in French.." There was laughter in her voice and Draco minded that it was at his expense.

"And what's wrong with that?"

"Nothing..it's just so, tender and endearing."

"And?" Draco still looked peeved.

"Not you.."

"Not me? But _I_ was the one who _kissed_ you, _proposed_ to you, made love to you-"

"But that's just it, see. That's you, a man of actions, never words." She smiled at him. He still looked miffed.

"That's why I adore you." She continued, gazing up at him and longing to trace his lips with her fingers or perhaps even her tongue. Instead, she grew somber.

"We have to talk." She stepped away from him.

He looked at her curiously, having been imagining kisses, tender words and if he was lucky - making love even but she seemed to have other ideas.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Ginny crossed her arms across her chest.

Draco studied her for a minute, admiring the dark flashes in her brown eyes. At that moment, he would like nothing more than to be scolded to death by an irrepressible angry Virginia for anger looked terribly good on her.

"Tell you what?" As the man really had no clue what his future wife was talking about.

"You're trying out for quidditch at Falcon Falmouth. Why didn't you tell me?" Ginny bristled.

"I wanted to surprise you if I got in." He shrugged, nonchalantly.

"What's wrong with teaching, Draco? Why Quidditch?"

"I needed a change and I thought maybe playing quidditch would impress your family." Ginny gaped at him.

"WHAT?! Are you MAD?! I _know_ that's not the real reason. And anyway my brothers hate the FFs!!"

"Yes, I know, but if I was good at something.."

"Draco, the Falcon Falmouths are owned by former deatheaters who are allegedly still involved in dark arts activities. Surely you must know that. That's where their wealth comes from!"

"And I _need_ that money, Virginia. Do you know if I get in and take the snitch for the first game of the season, I'll get a million galleons bonus? _Imagine_ that?" He paced in front of her as he spoke, excited hope shining from his eyes.

But don't you have enough?" Ginny waved her hands expressively over the large woods and the house in the distance.

Draco shook his head firmly.

"My standards of wealth are different from yours. No offense meant." He added.

"None taken." Ginny huffed.

"Besides, quidditch is so much more _exciting_."

"I hope you know what you're getting into…"

He pulled her into an embrace, as his fingers entwined in the strands of her hair. "I do, now don't worry about me. _I_ should be worrying about you."

The statement was so bold, so filled with concern that Ginny did not know what to say.

A reply was not possible for Draco's mouth covered hers, and he kissed her as if his life depended on it, as if she could give him back what he lost, as if he could do the same for her.

And maybe he could. Because she kissed him with the same desperation. Time was running out – there was so little time they had together, and the future seemed to have no space for them as lovers, a couple.

The worst part was that she could not hold back her desire for this man, could not survive without seeing him everyday, being with him. She wanted to make love, to taste his mouth, to feel his lips against her breasts.

She wanted to wrap herself around him, to take his power and strength and make them hers. To give him the softness, the loving that she knew he needed, even though he would rarely admit such vulnerability.

Draco slid his mouth along her jaw line. He nipped at the edge of her ear with his teeth and ran his tongue along the tip, bringing a shudder through her soul.

"Don't stop." She whispered.

"We'll have to soon, y'know." He breathed, smirking.

"You're laughing at me." Ginny frowned.

"A little." Actually he was not laughing at her as much as he was enjoying her.

She was a lovely, passionate woman, as down to earth as the ground they were standing on, her eyes as brown as soil, her hair as red as the trees. And redwood trees lasted forever. They were strong, tough and glorious, just like Virginia.

She pushed him back. He lost his footing and landed flat on his back, his robes billowing about him in the night wind.

Ginny took advantage of the situation, straddling him with her legs, her inner thighs caressing a very sensitive part of his body. Draco instinctively hardened against her.

"_Woman_, **_what_ **are you doing?" He muttered.

"Teaching you a lesson." She said with a pleased smile. "Never to mock me."

She leaned down and kissed him on the mouth, caressing the sides of his face with her hands, taking her time, taking what she wanted and Draco let her, even though it was painfully torturous not to rip her cloak away, strip her robes from her body and get inside of her.

But as much as Draco wanted to hurry, he also wanted this moment to last forever and he had rarely wanted anything to last forever.

That thought frightened him to death. It was then he realized the depth of his feelings – proposing to her had not been as starkly significant as this moment- he had done that before after all but _now_ he knew how deep he had fallen and he worried about how much he would hurt himself and even her.

As if to confirm his line of thoughts, the chain tucked neatly in her robes, swung forward, propelled by her movements, their sapphire diamond engagement ring glistening on it.

* * *

**A/n note:**

I'm glad I made you proud, Slytherin Queen..lol

About eleven or twelve more I think ..don't worry, this is only the beginning of their romance in the real world..boy is it going to be fun ride..

I am very very flattered by your review, Salina()..thank you very much..

Also, this is a mere transition chappie – pure fluff really before the hard stuff comes in – this is a REAL relationship..no fairytale romance stuff so the next few chapters will be mainly about the new couple thrashing certain issues between them..hopefully they'll solve it and come out stronger or maybe not..lots of twists and turns though…so STAY TUNED…

NOTHING IS MINE- the customary disclaimer

**SNEAKIE PEEKIE BOO!!!!!!!!**

_All the emotions that ran through her as she read his words – wistfulness, pride, love, honour, fear – propelled her out of bed, to her desk to answer his letter and all his surprisingly astute questions. Sleepiness and bleary vision long gone, she conjured up a mug of hot cappuccino and began her reply._

**I want reviews till six hundred and also a pre requisite to updating this story – everyone who read this story must go and read and review my other two draco ginny fics – Harder to Breathe ( a brand new version, one shot) and ****Love**** on Earth (a four parter or six parter)**

Please..i desperately need feedback….very demanding I know..but I love being a slavedriver..lol..


	23. Without You

**Without You**

_No I can't forget this evening  
Or your face as you were leaving  
But I guess that's just the way  
The story goes  
You always smile but in your eyes  
Your sorrow shows  
Yes it shows_

_No I can't forget tomorrow  
When I think of all my sorrow  
When I had you there  
But then I let you go  
And now it's only fair  
That I should let you know  
What you should know_

_I can't live  
If living is without you  
I can't live  
I can't give any more  
I can't live  
If living is without you  
I can't give  
I can't give any more_

- Written by W. P. Ham and T. Evans

* * *

Luna stumbled down the stairs, lugging a huge cardboard box filled with rubbish from the apartment. Just as she was about to lose her footing for real, she felt two unfamiliar strong arms catch her by her shoulders, breaking her fall.

She looked up, just as Ginny herself came down the stairs. Ginny's eyes widened as she observed the scene before her, from the stop of the stairs. Luna in Harry's arms with a huge cardboard box between the both of them; what caused a smile to tug at one end of her lips was the flushed look on Harry's face as he stared down at Luna.

"Ah-hem." Ginny cleared her throat, in very Umbridge fashion.

Both of their heads shot up towards her.

"Hey, Harry." She greeted, smirking.

The irksome familiarity of that smirk on Ginny's face brought Harry crashing back to reality and he blurted the first coherent thought that came to his mind, "You look like Malfoy."

Ginny went red, pressing her lips together in a thin line of bemusement. Luna laughed at his comment, looking up at her friend who was of a lovely crimson shade of red.

"What brings you here, Harry?" Ginny asked, composing herself.

"Oh..em..eh..Your mother said you needed some help." He muttered, avoiding Ginny's eyes. She shrugged, not wanting to torture him any further. Luna, seemingly oblivious made her way down the stairs.

"Hey, Lu, Zeus will off for a while. So you won't be able to send anything for some time." Luna nodded.

As Ginny stepped into the apartment, Harry followed her, settling himself into one of the couches.

"I thought you came over to help?" Ginny arched an eyebrow at him questioningly.

Before he could even answer, Ginny walked towards the kitchen to send Zeus off to Draco with her letter for him.

_Dear Draco,_

_I hope you are well. How is Sri Lanka? Is it as beautiful as you say it is? Keep me updated about your mother. All's well here. Luna and I have moved into our apartment. We've been spending the past few days cleaning it out and __moving__ our things in. I rather like this apartment – it's small and quaint. Just what we need._

_I will be starting work at the International Prophet soon. Am rather looking forward to it. Speaking of Luna, I think Harry seems to be rather besotted with her. It is quite amusing really for Luna seems absolutely blind to this and I'd think she would rather much deny it. She abhors Harry, not like the way you do though._

_And anyway, she is rather taken up with the fact that her American pen pal has not written back to her in a long while. I think she is secretly infatuated with him. She stopped letting me read her letters to him sometime ago. I presume that was when they started getting more intimate. Yes, Draco, laugh at me if you will. I am so bored here without you that I have taken to immersing myself into my best friend's __love__ life._

_Harry says I look like you nowadays since I have been smirking a lot recently. Imagine that?Are you sprouting red __hair__, dearest?_

_Have got to go. Mother will be dropping by with some __home__ cooked __food__. Nothing beats her __cooking__. Wish you could try her __home__ baked double __chocolate__ cookies. You'll __love__ it, perhaps more than I __love__ you._

_Love Virginia_

* * *

Ginny padded down the hallway to the kitchen, early the next day. The sight of Zeus at the counter, clicking his beak impatiently caused her heart to soar. She tore open the letter after retrieving it from the owl and read it. 

_Dear Virginia,_

_No red __hair__ that I can see. Even asked Paulo to check for me. He is here with me on a __vacation__ with his __family__. You should meet his wife and daughter. They are adorable. All three of them look entirely perfect together. It must be nice to have a __family__ like that. I think you look adorable when you smirk, which means I look adorable as well._

_I always knew Luna had some sense. Who needs Potter anyway? I thought you told me he had a girlfriend of some sort and that Creevey had something for Luna. Must you work? Can't you stay at __home__ so that I can come visit you anytime I wanted and make __love__ to you all day, all night?_

_Anything __chocolate__ sounds excellent to me. You and __chocolate__ together – imagine the ideas. We will just have to try that out when I get back, no?_

_Sri Lanka is the most beautiful place in the world. We should get married here. The beaches are so white, the __water__ so clear. Mother is far from __recovery__ but the healer here seems to think that there is hope for her. Am never good with words so will end here and let my little __gift__ attached speak for itself. _

_Till the next __time_

_Yours _

_Draco._

Ginny looked around for the said gift only to have Zeus hop aside and reveal the most beautiful bouquet of a dozen white roses. She gasped, as did Luna who had walked in then.

It was only much later that day that Ginny finally managed to sit down and began her reply to his letter. She gazed appreciatively at the roses placed quaintly in slender porcelain vase that belonged to Luna, which sat on the varnished coffee table in the living room.

Harry's red roses mingled elegantly with Draco's white ones. As Colin had put it when he had first walked into the apartment, those were a rich man's gift. Colin, however, at the moment was sprawled all over the couch, exhausted from tryouts at various quidditch teams.

He had decided to drop by and check in on his best friends, and also sojourn off with some food since his mother was out of town and he could not cook for his life. The latest revelations about Harry's growing attachment to their new apartment or simply put Luna herself did not unseat him as much as Ginny has expected.

Luna was seated beside Ginny, trying to read the letter she was penning over her shoulder. Ginny simply ignored her.

_Dear Draco,_

_Anyone ever tell you what a dirty minded pervert you are? Well, I am and I __love__ you for it. After receiving your last letter, Luna wanted to know why I was blushing and giggling so much. I dare say, precious, you have the most fantastic ideas. Will await your return with a tub of __chocolate__ sauce. _

_You possibly have the biggest ego in the world. Oh no, according to dearest Luna who is reading over my shoulder that award goes to Harry. I think the whole thing with her and Harry is rather sweet. I imagine you do not. She thinks he is an arrogant prick in disguise and he fancies her to bits._

_He even got __roses__ for her. Said it was for our new __home__ but gave it to her. Red ones though. Unlike the beautiful white Sri Lankan ones you sent me with your letter. I __love__ them. Am going to dry them and preserve their scent._

_Colin seems to be a lot more distanced from Luna than during Hogwarts. He seems to confide in me more than in her. This change did not come after Harry's recent behavior. In fact he seems rather unaffected by the notion of Harry and Luna together._

_Draco, we will have that family soon if it is the last thing I do. I recommend raising puppies in the mean time for it might take one or two centuries for my __family__ to approve of our union._

_We both knew, when you proposed and I accepted, that marriage would be a long while away with my __career__ and yours, your mother, my __family__. It was more of a promise to each other, to be together forever. Perhaps I am wrong in this interpretation. Whatever it maybe, I want you to know that I am yours, always._

_Love_

_Virginia_

* * *

Breathless anxiety weaved through her as she sat up with a jolt at the sudden swish of wings as Zeus landed on her bed. She blinked, still sleepy from her first late night at work. It was a good thing she only had to be back at the office at ten in the morning. This time his letter came bearing no gift. 

_Dearest Virginia,_

_I would very much like to disagree with you for it would be better than good to be able to marry you this very moment, and for us to live together forever and ever, happily ever after akin to those fairytales that we read and hear often enough about but I can do none of that. I have to agree with you._

_Though I have a question, if we are not willing to face the consequences of our relationship, when will we ever do it? Is it not easier now than later, when things perhaps get more complicated? It is your decision altogether, though._

_Luna's and Potter's budding __romance__ is very reminiscent of our own. I must say it is nice for a change to see Potter not having his way easy just because he is The Man who killed Voldermort. Perhaps Creevey is ensconced with another girl as well._

_When I return, we are going to spend the weekend at The Malfoy Cabin, up in The Estate. That is an order, so I suggest you __free__ up your busy schedule. Do not forget the __chocolate__ sauce._

_As beautiful as this place is, I am weary of shuttling back and forth the __hotel__ and the hospital with mother making no visible progress. The healer advises leaving her there for a considerable amount of __time__ and returning to Britain. I could never do that though. If anything were to happen to her, I would never be able to live with myself._

_Besides, I have managed to engage several worthy __business__ contracts here. It seems that flying carpets are more in use here than broomsticks. With the impending ban of flying carpets due to the recent death of the Minister Of Magic's daughter when she got struck by lightning while traveling on one, broomsticks are going to be in demand. They are also especially interested in flying __cars__ as well._

_I have been to several meeting and discussions. Hopefully, before I leave I can sign a deal. In order to do so, I need a company to sign it under. I have been thinking of starting up a new one but am at loss as to how to name it. I thought you might have some ideas. I might even put this company under both of our names so that it will be a co-ownership._

_I have so many plans for us together, Virginia, so many ideas. It jus worries me that you might not wholeheartedly be into this, us being together because of your reluctance to come out in the open about us. It is not as if it will be easy for me either._

_Yours truly,_

_Draco_

All the emotions that ran through her as she read his words – wistfulness, pride, love, honour, fear – propelled her out of bed, to her desk to answer his letter and all his surprisingly astute questions. Sleepiness and bleary vision long gone, she conjured up a mug of hot cappuccino and began her reply.

_Dear Draco,_

_I sense this is going to be a major point of contention between the both of us. Telling my parents and family is a huge step and once we cross that line, there is no return. I would rather take my __time__ to get to know you as a lover (For most of the while in Hogwarts, we were merely __friends__, then maybe something more but not two __people__ utterly serious about each other until the end) before I make that big step._

_Do not be mistaken. I would want nothing more than to spend the rest of my life with you. I mean, I accepted your proposal and wear that ring close to my heart. But I am often seized with doubt – what if this feeling does not last? We have moved so fast, perhaps a tad too fast and maybe taking it slow now would do us some good – just to enjoy each other and learn more about each other as possible life partners and __test__ the limits and strengths of this relationship – find out if this passion, lust, longing and __love__ will last._

_I do __love__ you, Draco with all my heart but I also fear that like everything else that I have known, this __love__ will fade away. I have faith and hope that it will not but the pragmatic and more practical side of me always wins out._

_Merlin, I could leave everything and just run away with you if I followed my heart. That is how much I feel for you but I also __love__ my __family__ and that is one __love__ that has been there for a longer __time__ than ours, and I am not yet willing to sacrifice one for the other. As selfish as this sounds, I do not want to make any drastic moves just as yet. Let's just let it be, for now at least._

_I dare say that I am honored to be partners in __business__ with you and that you are willing to discuss your __business__ plans with me. I would advise you to carry your family name. As much as Malfoys are associated with dark arts, it still has a certain authority and power to its name, so I suggest you use that to your advantage. How about 'Malfoy Enterprises' or 'Malfoy Creatiions' so that you can expand your company businesses into other areas beyond brooms and flying __cars__ later, when necessary?_

_A weekend alone sounds just great. Besides, it would give Harry the chance to catch Luna alone and profess his undying __love__ for her. I swear, you should see the way he looks at her. I wonder when this came about though. Harry never had it easy, __love__. He went through his own share of pain, grief and anguish._

_I must say, you might just be right about Colin. He is busy most nights as well. As much as I miss you, I would rather you stay there with your mother and be with her. She may not know you are there but I know that it will be good for you to be there for her._

_Love_

_Your Dearest_

_Virginia_

* * *

"I'm thinking that it's three." Suzie muttered, staring thoughtfully at the bottle that Trevor was holding. Ginny yawned loudly, grinning at her colleagues who were whiling away their time playing some random brainless game. 

They were all in Suzie's office, the largest of their three offices, enjoying their lunch break to the fullest. Suzie and herself worked in the current affairs department, while Trevor, Suzie's friend from school, was a photographer. They had bonded instantly – both Ginny and Trevor being new to the International Prophet and stuck together most of the time.

"Did you hear?" Trevor's friend from the fashion department, Cristopher announced as he walked in.

Suzie immediately sat a little straighter, crossing her legs – a sudden picture of elegance compared to the glassy eyed, slouching person she was a few minutes ago.

Now, Ginny had to admit that Cris was good looking but he was so good looking that she did not find him the least bit attractive – his looks were too perfect and he was more of a pretty boy than anything else.

Ginny often wondered what exactly his job encompassed for he could often be found strutting around the office, flashing his winsome smile at any susceptible female. He was doing exactly that to Suzie who flashed a coy smile back. Ginny exchanged bemused looks with Trevor.

"Hear what?" Trevor asked, throwing the bottle into the bin.

"This." Cris murmured, tearing his eyes off Suzie and tossing the Daily Prophet onto her desk. Allfour of them crowded around it.

On the front page, at the slim column on the right hand side was a grainy picture of Draco under the headlines 'FF SEEKER – NOT MALFOY'. Ginny's breath caught in her throat and she felt her mouth go dry at the mere thought of how disappointed Draco would be.

She could not bring herself to read the rest of the article. Draco loved quidditch as much as Harry did and not being part of the game would indefinitely hurt him. She sank back into her seat stunned by the news.

"You okay, Ginny?" Trevor asked, concerned. She avoided his eyes, nodding. She had to put up a unaffected front.

Forcing a wan smile on her face, she looked up at her curious friends, "Nothing. Just felt a little floozy."

They nodded before going back to their discussion. "It seems he was the most prominent wizard who tried out for the position." Suzie informed them.

"But he can't have been any good then." Cris quipped. Ginny felt her head throbbing. She wished they would stop talking about Draco. She had no idea how he was going to find out. Would she have to tell him?

"Probably not. Flint's son got in though."

"Aren't they knee deep in dark arts?" Trevor asked.

"Yes." Suzie replied, knowledgably

"No wonder FFs took him in then." Chris shook his head, distastefully.

"But isn't Malfoy a deatheater as well?"

"His father was. Don't know about him."

It was at this point Ginny lost all her reserve and stood up abruptly. "I need to go to the washroom." She mumbled, walking briskly out of the room.

In the washroom, down the hallway, she washed her pale face several times before the colour returned to her cheeks. She could almost feel his pain upon finding out. The bright light in his eyes would go out – how could she forget the way that those grey eyes shone with hope and excitement at the prospect of doing something he was passionate about. She would have to be strong for him then. That was all there was to it. She would be his rock.

* * *

**A/N NOTE**

**SO SORRY** for the delay. I promised this chapter after six hundred reviews but I could not keep my promise because I could not upload this chapter due to a glitch in my internet and also due to a fallout of interest in this story as well as the pressure of exams…so sirs and madams please pardon me….

Hope you enjoyed this chapter although it is mostly an exchange of letters. Draco and Ginny are more into their relationship and they are beginning to deal with real issues in their relationship – that's why the contents of the letters are very crucial.

Next chapter will be a lot more interesting because they take on the same issues in the flesh instead of through letters…brace yourself if you think the happy ending is coming up very SOON..they have a long way to go and I mean a LOOOOONG way.

On a more personal note, now that exams are over and the misery season is drawing to an open beginning with Christmas and rounding off with Valentine's Day next year, I have a few lessons that I have learnt over the past year and want to share with you so that you can tackle this festive season effectively -

1.If you want to snag a guy, act like you DON'T CARE

2.Get a job so that you can get money cos allowances run out faster than water in a desert

3.ONLY date rich guys e.g Draco Malfoy type of wealth

4.Make yourself happy

5.Exercise daily cos it makes you feel happy

6.Do not eat carbos especially if you have an arse the size of two bowling alleys like moi

7.Read tons of great books that changes your life starting with the guide to guys by Greg Behrendt – must have for ALL heterosexual women

SNEAK PEEK

_He was, however, frowning very deeply as he sipped at his own glass of __wine__ while Ginny nibbled on her cracker, watching the intense look of concentration on his face._

_"Draco, what's wrong?" She asked, a few minutes later, gently touching his arm. He shook his head, looking away. Ginny let out a heavy sigh of exasperation._

**REVIEW TILL A THOUSAND….KIDDING! You can if you want to though..Just REVIEW PEOPLE…I can't read your minds and won't know what you're thinking about this chapter till you tell me by REVIEWING!!!!!!!!!!**


	24. I'll See It Through

**I'll See It Through**

_When you touch me  
I feel there's nothing you can do to turn me away  
And I know that  
In the past you've had bad luck so I should help you stay_

_You're all I ever wanted  
You're all I ever needed, it's you  
You're all I've ever wanted  
And loving you's the right thing to do  
And I'll see it through_

_When I close my eyes  
And think of you it takes me places that I've never seen  
And the rain, it blows  
You're brushing up against my skin to wash me clean_

_You're all I ever wanted  
You're all I ever needed - it's you  
You're all I've ever wanted  
And loving you's the right thing to do  
And I'll see it through_

_I'll show you the love in my head  
I'll show you the love that we had  
I'll show you the love in my head  
I'll show you the love that we had_

_You're all I ever wanted  
You're all I've ever needed, it's you  
You're all I've ever wanted  
And loving you's the right thing to do  
And I'll see it through_

_- Texas_

_

* * *

_

Ginny took a deep breath as she stood outside the fine dining restaurant 'Les Amis', situated in the more up market district of Club Avenue, in Diagon Alley. It was against her better judgment to be seen in such a place, especially with Draco but that, Ginny assumed, had been his sole purpose.

His last letter had been short and to the point, inviting her for dinner tonight and informed her that he had arranged for the Sri Lankan Healer to accompany his mother back to Britain and continue the treatment. He had not mentioned anything about the quidditch trial results but it was not safe for her to assume he did not know. She hoped he knew – the thought of being the bearer of such awful news did not sit well with her.

Deciding to take her seat because Draco had said he would be running late, she entered the restaurant. It was crowded as it was usually during this time of the evening. She felt incredibly nervous as the maitre d' led her to the table for two, reserved special for Mr. Malfoy.

The entire place was filled with fine, wealthy looking people. Surely, she could never fit into such a world. Already people were starring at her. The flaming red hair was a huge giveaway; especially with her father now Assistant to the new Minister of Magic after Fudge's demise.

She shifted in her seat, feeling a tad underdressed in her chiffon halter dress robes, simple pearl choker necklace and matching pearl stud earrings. She wore the sapphire ring on her hand, on her engagement finger – a daring move but she had wanted Draco to know how much he mattered to her.

* * *

Draco took his time, getting to the table, nodding politely at people on the way. His father may have been a deatheater but the Malfoy name still held its own respect and prestige within the circles of wizard high society. He barely noticed the people he was nodding at, when he saw her. All ulterior motives, insecurities that had plagued him about this relationship fled his mind.

Her back was facing him, her creamy white skin bared for all to see, clashing dramatically with her coppery red hair, its different tones of red dancing in the light from the chandelier hanging above. The silk robes she wore seemed to worship every curve and dip of her lithe body. He was enthralled and enraptured by Virginia Weasley.

He stopped right behind her, leaning down so that his lips brushed against her ear, his warm breath ticklish. "You look positively ravishing."

Ginny flushed red, feeling a tantalizing shiver run up her spine. It was all she could do from throwing her arms around him and kissing him.

"You too." She commented smoothly, observing his athletic frame complimented by dark, black robes.

Draco shot her a smirk as he took his seat across from her. "How are you?" He asked, fixing his gaze on her, while waving at the waiter for the menus in that causal yet powerful way.

"Fine." She answered neutrally, returning his gaze. In truth, she was dead scared. Being seen with Draco at such a place, having dinner together would obviously be something to talk about. She knew she was not being paranoid when she assumed that the murmurs from the other tables were mostly due to her presence.

"There is a reason why I asked you to meet me here for dinner." Draco murmured, watching her through carefully guarded eyes, a slight smirk tugging at his lips.

Ginny sighed wearily, not wanting to partake in his games. "Why? I thought I explained myself to you." She shot back, wishing he did not make her feel so bitter, especially since this was the first time they were seeing each other in a long time.

"Not good enough for me, Virginia. You don't trust me." He stated.

She did not deny it. "I'm learning to."

Draco waved away the waiter who had come to take their orders, before leaning forward. "What is stopping you?"

"Nothing. It's hard for me to trust, okay?" Ginny was being evasive. She hoped Draco did not notice.

Before he could question her further, she went on, "Why are you in such a rush? Why the sudden urgency? What is it that you want?" She spat out exasperatedly in low quiet tones.

"A family." His stormy grey eyes stared at her beneath his dark eyelashes, lending them a smoky aura. Ginny drew in her breath at the intensity he was looking at her with.

"A family I can learn to love and whom will love me unconditionally." He continued, shifting his gaze to the tablecloth, looking down at the table, his shoulders previously held in proud straightness now slumped with resignation.

She reached across the table, ignoring the people around them and placed her small hand with its slender fingers over his larger and paler hand with its defined masculine knuckles that she could feel beneath her palm. "Someday we'll have that, Draco."

She paused before continuing. "Is it your mother? Is she..okay?" She asked tentatively.

Draco shook his head, entwining his fingers with hers, as if he needed her. "She…There's no hope for her, really. I'm just bringing the healer down for the sake of keeping up a farce, y'know, for hope's sake. The healer thinks she won't even last long."

Ginny felt tears well up in her eyes, as she squeezed his hand reassuringly. He looked so heartbroken and vulnerable. Screw the people around them. Draco needed her, and that was all that mattered.

"Draco, listen to me," She forced him to look up, and meet her eyes. "Whether your mother gets better or not, you're doing your part as a son and that's all that matters. Just continue to be there for her, understand?" He nodded.

"Let's order. Don't know about you but I'm starving." Draco was back in control again, flashing a dry smile at her.

She grinned back. After placing their orders, Ginny leaned back in her seat, slightly relaxed, blissfully happy with having Draco right across the table from her and not some continent away. Concealed by the floor length tablecloth, she slipped her leg out of her shoe, sliding her foot up his leg, beneath his robes.

She had to bite her lip from bursting out into helpless giggles at the expressions on his face – from bewilderment to amusement and then anxiety as she curled her toes against his skin while moving her foot further up his leg.

"You're a wench y'know." Draco muttered, managing to smile politely at an elderly couple that sauntered by.

"This is for bringing me to a place like this." Ginny pouted.

"Don't you like it?" Draco mocked.

Ginny shook her head, looking despondent. "I can never fit in here, Draco and you know that. I'm not like these people." She felt wistful for a moment. She could never really be a Malfoy.

"I'd never know that." He shrugged.

She bit her lip, wondering why there seemed to be so many differences between the both of them and if their love could actually overcome it all. By then, Draco had slipped his shoe off and was massaging Ginny's feet with his socked feet. She sighed contentedly, smiling at him across the table, desire darting right down to the spot between her legs.

"I have you for the whole weekend." Draco commented with a smirk.

Ginny shook her head. "I have dinner back at The Burrow on Sunday night."

Draco made a face. "Any occasion?"

"No it's the weekly thing. I hate it though."

Their dishes arrived, along with a bottle of specially imported wizard wine.

"Grindy wine. The best in Wizarding Europe." Draco told her, taking an elegant whiff his wine, before taking a sip and tasting it. Nodding approvingly at the waiter, he turned to Ginny who was gazing at him in admiration.

"I love you." She muttered, after the waiter left the table.

"Cos I'm rich?" Draco smirked.

Ginny looked horrified. "No, it's because you're so elegant, cultured and worldly-wise."

Draco did not say anything, simply devouring his steak. "Why do you hate these family gatherings again?" He asked, a moment later.

"My Mum's begun nagging at me about my single status."

Draco let out what sounded very much like a snort. "Tell her about us then."

Ginny shot him a glare. "Draco, we've covered this a hundred times. I cannot tell my parents till I'm ready."

"When will that be, Madame? They'll find out sooner or later y'know." He had a very knowing look on his face.

"And that's your main aim of having dinner with me here, right?"

"Also, to give you a sneak preview of my world."

"Anyone ever tell you that you're a manipulative, conniving-'

"I'm a Slytherin, aren't I?" Draco arched an eyebrow at her, his darkening eyes making her pulse race, "And I always get what I want." His voice had dropped to a low, husky whisper that seemed to arouse her even further.

"Malfoy!" Their little bubble was broken by the loud voice of Marcus Flint. Ginny felt trepidation shoot through her as she watched Draco nod at the bigger man.

Draco looked immaculately cool and composed – his well used mask. "Flint."

"So aren't you going to congratulate me?" Marcus thumped him on his shoulders while Ginny cringed, knowing exactly what he was talking about.

If Draco was surprised, he did not show it. Instead, he curved his lips into a grim smile, "Congratulations then, Flint."

Realizing that he had failed in breaking down Malfoy, Flint turned to the conspicuous red head. "I see, you've really gone down haven't you, Draco?" He mocked, sneering at Ginny who bristled, glaring angrily back at him.

"I suggest you shut that trap of yours and get the hell out of here." Draco stated, in his dangerously soft voice, a muscle twitching in his jaw, his eyebrow arched in question.

Even Flint knew better than to mess with him, thus, walking off with a smirk. Ginny sank against her seat, anger dissipating instantly. The whole world would know sooner or later – about her and Draco.

Draco, however seemed to have other things on his mind. "Why didn't you tell me?" His eyes flashed angrily as he turned upon Ginny, steak and wine long forgotten. In fact his appetite had soured considerably.

"I forgot." Seeing the look of utmost disbelief on his face, "I really did, I was so happy to see you and everything. Anyway I thought you already knew about the trial results." Her dejection went unnoticed, for Draco was frustrated and very angry.

"I can't believe he got the seeker position." He muttered through clenched teeth, raking his hair.

Ginny did not like the wild look in his eyes – this was not desire, nor an act of composure – it was desperate anger and pain.

"Of all people! And you," He turned on Ginny again, "You didn't even tell me!" Draco whispered fiercely, for their table were attracting more than their rightful share of curious stares.

"I forgot, Draco. Get with it. It slipped my mind. They are a lot more important things in life than quidditch." Ginny snapped, angrily.

Draco looked livid, his face going even paler and his jaw so tight that Ginny was sure it was going to crack. "Not to me, there isn't it."

It took a full minute for both of them to realize what had just been said. Draco was utterly taken aback by his own impulsiveness while Ginny's eyes widened in shock and hurt.

She rose from hr chair, her Weasley temper rising to the occasion. Throwing her napkin in his face, she turned to stalk off. Draco was quicker though, standing up as well and grabbing her by the wrist. By now everyone was openly watching them, this lovers' spate, they correctly assumed.

Ginny struggled to get free from him. "Let me go." She growled into his face, which was a few inches away from her own.

"Sit down, Virginia. You realize you're creating quite a spectacle." Draco murmured to her calmly, belying the fact that he was trying to rein in the urge to go on his knees, beg her forgiveness and kiss her senseless.

"Fine! You started it!" With that she yanked her hand away and strode off, her dress robes fluttering about her dramatically.

* * *

Ginny paced the walkway, some distance away from the restaurant. She should not have walked out. It was obvious that he was venting his frustration on her, she being the only possible target. She should have been calm and understanding.

Oh! Why did she always have to be so damn bloody hot-headed! Now, he was going to be even more riled up with her. He had not even come after her. Here, she was all alone. She drew her cloak around herself. The night had gotten extremely cold.

She had planned to be strong for him but here she was, the eternal drama queen, having lost her head and walked out on him. She leaned against a lamppost, burying her face in her freezing hands.

"You look like you could use a pair of gloves." Ginny looked up startled, at her saviour.

Draco stood a few feet away, looking just as sheepish as she felt, his blonde hair ruffled by the wind, holding out a pair of gloves to her.

"Oh, Draco, I'm so sorry." She began.

He shook his head, "I should be saying sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

"I shouldn't have lost my temper." She walked towards him, burying her face in his cloak, feeling herself go red with embarrassment at the memory.

"Well, at least you gave them something to talk about." He commented, smirking.

Ginny swatted him on his arm, and finally managed to look him in the eye. Wrapping an arm around her waist, he led her down the path on the beginnings of a meandering stroll, typical of lovers'.

"Did you bring the chocolate sauce?" He teased light heartedly, before leaning down to kiss her.

* * *

She rolled over, as her stomach emitted a loud growl. Draco let out a laugh in mock amusement as he rested his head against her abdomen. She swatted his head lightly.

"Hungry?"

"Yes."

For a while they did not say anything. The sticky sweet scent of sweat and sex wafting up from the bed, mingling with dewy scent of the woods coming in through the open windows of the cabin lend a personal touch to the rather homely and surprisingly warm cabin.

The sun was barely peeking above the horizon, as dusk crept up on them but they had no sense of time. The both of them were languidly spread out on the huge fold out bed, entangled in the sheets watching the dying embers of the fire in the fireplace that had kept them warm all night.

They had spent a glorious night together in the utter privacy of this blessed cabin, a luxury that she had only fantasized about. His fingers trailed a path up and down the insides of her knee, absentmindedly.

Then he leapt off the bed suddenly, "I'll get you food."

Ginny nodded, dreamily. When he returned with cheese, crackers, two wine glasses and an expensive wine bottle, she sat up gingerly, the insides of her thighs still sore from their vigorous activities. He did not seem to notice this, and for a moment Ginny felt a flash of infuriation at this sign of neglect. He was, however, frowning very deeply as he sipped at his own glass of wine while Ginny nibbled on her cracker, watching the intense look of concentration on his face.

"Draco, what's wrong?" She asked, a few minutes later, gently touching his arm. He shook his head, looking away.

Ginny let out a heavy sigh of exasperation. "We need to communicate y'know, Draco, communication is the key to any good relationship."

"You're one to lecture me." He bit out, making an obvious reference to Ginny not informing about him the quidditch tryout results.

She drew back startled. "I thought you had forgiven me…"

Draco looked instantly remorseful. "I had..I'm sorry…It's just that I've never felt so.." He seemed to be looking for a word to describe adequately the disappointment and anguish he felt. "Lost! I mean, my mother's sick and there's no cure, I lost that seeker position to Flint, of all people! It's like I'm trying so damn bloody hard but it just doesn't feel worth it. It's as if it's not worth to do the right thing anymore…"

Ginny let him rant and rave a bit, since he rarely did so and this was a good way to vent. His fists were balled up as he spoke, and his lithe shoulders unnaturally tense.

She placed her crackers on the bedside table and moved towards him, putting her hand on the small of his back, the coolness of her palm against his heated skin.

"It may seem that the path to hell is paved with good intentions but it's not. In the end, everything happens for a reason and greater things are in store for you. Just remember that." She murmured.

He pulled her into his arms, in a bone-crushing embrace that hinted at his dependency on her. "Don't ever leave me," He mumbled into her cinnamon smelling hair.

"Never…" She whispered before he captured her mouth in his, and once again began the tantalizing ritual known among lovers as making love.

* * *

**A/N Note -**

I know the precious chapter was blah..really could not help it..it had to be..i had to write it out that way..i've read love letters before and I don't think the letters between Ginny and Draco were formal. If they appeared so maybe it is due to the fact that conversing is different from writing it out in words to each other.

They will be a lot of second guessing the relationship on both Ginny and Draco's part – I must warn you as I mentioned before – this is a REAL love story about a REAL relationship. So like a REAL relationship, the pressure of making this relationship work despite all the odds against them is taking its inevitable toll on BOTH Ginny and Draco - this will be displayed in these few chapters. It's no fairytale and I apologise for that. It'll get frustrating but remember this my darling reviewers and readers – True love lasts a lifetime…that's all you need to remember as you read this story.

This chapter is a transition one so that's why it's really short..as compensation I'll put up the next chapter which is a very pivotal and crucial one very soon…I'm kind of getting weary of this story myself – it's become like a long drawn out relationship for me..started out as something close to my heart, still is I suppose but the fire is no longer there..almost like a marriage burnt out..dun know how to end this story really..hopefully inspiration will come at an opportune time.

Please check out my other D/G fics **'You're the only One**' and '**Love On Earth**' – now those are two D/G stories I feel with all my heart and soul. For some D/G one shot fic pleasure please read '**Spring Fever'** and '**Harder to Breathe'**.

From first hand experience guys DO NOT get confused when you act like you don't care – if they're feelings for you are for REAL, it'll just make them put in even more effort to get you….Please read 'He's Just Not That Into You' by Greg Behrendt and Liz Tucillo – the only self help book a girl needs to read.

Pardon the errors, will repost the betaed version pronto

**_REVIEW !_**

**Sneakie Peekie Boo!**

_Just then an eagle swooped through the window, dropping the Daily Prophet on the table before flying off. Ginny seated herself at the table, unrolling the papers and reading it slowly and quietly. It was when she turned to the society page that she let out a gasp that resonated in the still air, bouncing off the wooden walls. Draco turned around from his over boiled stew, to glance at his fiancé who stared at the society pages, horror painted over her pretty features._


	25. Gone

**GONE**

_There's a thousand words that I could say  
To make you come home  
Oh, seems so long ago you walked away  
Left me alone  
I remember what you said to me  
You were acting so strange  
and maybe I was too blind to see  
That you needed a change_

_Was it something I said  
To make you turn away?  
To make you walk out and leave me cold  
If I could just find a way  
To make it so that you were right here  
But right now.._

_I've been sitting here  
Can't get you off my mind  
I've tried my best to be a man and be strong  
I've drove myself insane  
Wishing I could touch your face  
But the truth remains.._

_You're gone..  
You're gone..  
Baby you're gone  
Girl you're gone, baby girl, you're gone..  
You're gone..  
You're..._

_I don't wanna make excuses, baby  
Won't change the fact that you're gone  
But if there's something that I could do  
Won't you please let me know?  
Time is passing so slowly now  
Guess that's my life without you  
and maybe I could change my every day  
But baby I don't want to_

_So I'll just hang around  
and find some things to do  
To take my mind off missing you  
and I know in my heart  
You can't say that you don't love me too  
Please say you do_

_Yeeaah..._

_I've been sitting here  
Can't get you off my mind  
I've tried my best to be a man and be strong  
I Drove myself insane  
Wishing I could touch your face  
But the truth remains_

_You're gone..  
You're gone..  
You're gone  
You're gone...you're gone.. you're...  
Gone_

_Ohhh..._

_Oh what'll I do  
If I can't be with you  
Tell me where will I turn to  
Baby who will I be  
Now that we are apart  
Am I still in your heart?  
Baby why don't you see?  
That I need you here with me  
Oohhh..._

_You're gone..  
You're gone..  
You're gone  
You're gone  
Gone  
You're gone.._

_But the truth remains  
You're...Gone_

_- N'Sync_

* * *

She was in the garden, the morning sunshine filtering the dew in the air as she weeded – something she enjoyed doing in the quiet of such mornings, without having to tend to the children as she used to. Besides, it was Saturday morning, which meant her husband, and only remaining son would be sleeping in. 

It was then, with a loud crack, Mrs. Purdsmore apparated, her blue eyes as wide as saucers. It was through years of interaction with Mrs. Purdsmore, that Molly had come to the useful conclusion that the wideness of Mrs. Purdsmore's eyes indicated how shocking the news that she bore was. Right now, it looked as if her eyes were going to pop out. Molly Weasley had little patience for gossips but she was sensible enough to know that there was a grain of truth in what they had to say.

"Molly, dear, you won't ever believe this but then perhaps you already know since it concerns your own daughter after all!"

Molly stiffened visibly, straightening up from her crouched position in order to stand and fix her gaze on the flustered, white haired, thin elderly witch who seemed to be watching her rather carefully. It was every mother's worst fear when her own daughter becomes town gossip – a surefire ruination of her reputation.

Molly attempted to conceal her anxiety, "You want some breakfast, Mrs. Purdsmore? I have some pancakes on the stove." Of course the elderly woman who was cursed with a daughter-in-law who could not cook, agreed, shuffling into the kitchen behind Molly.

As she sat down at the table, she began to speak in that excited nasal voice of hers, "Tell me, then, Molly! How come you never told me about your daughter Ginny's engagement?"

Molly who had been making tea, nearly lost grip of her wand. Thank Merlin, her back was facing the curious Mrs. Purdsmore. She composed herself adequately before turning around to serve the tea and some pancakes.

"Well, it was too early." Molly murmured neutrally, offering a feeble excuse.

Mrs. Purdsmore patted her hand reassuringly, "Of course dear, I mean at the rate things are going there might not be a engagement but don't worry, my sources saw them making up later. These young people when they fall in love." She flashed Molly a conspiratory grin.

Molly could only swallow hard. This was why she had more sons than daughters – she did not have to worry about them when it came to their personal lives. All it took was one mistake, one rash action based on emotions for a girl to ruin her life.

She was aching to know whom her daughter was engaged to, hoping against hope that it was someone respectable. But mother's instinct told her otherwise – if not why would Ginny not have told her about this herself.

"Nice engagement ring, I must say. Heard Rita Skeeter's going to do an article about it." Mrs. Purdsmore babbled on, "I mean it's not everyday that a Weasley gets engaged to a Malfoy, is it?"

Year before, Molly's late mother had suffered a petit stroke and long after, she had told Molly that it was possible for such brain events to happen in an instant, the time it took to speak a world. And after the exact three seconds it took for those dreadful words to sink in, Molly heard a cadenza of sound as loud as a ripsaw that sent the teacup in her hand, falling, falling downwards to the ground. And she realized just as quickly that no one else could hear it.

She reached up for her temple. The sound pounded but now with a transparent quality; she could hear everything around it, the scraping of the chair as Mrs. Purdsmore rose from her seat aghast, the shattering of the porcelain cup as it hit the floor, the wind in the maples like water rushing from a pipe. Bile sloshed over her tongue but she gripped the edges of the table, bent nearly double, trying to muster enough air to fight the gathering pitchy dots that licked at the space in front of her eyes.

"Are you all right?" asked Mrs. Purdsmore, backing off.

"I'm…all…right." Molly gasped.

"You didn't know." Mrs. Purdsmore realized instantly, the fear in her voice diminishing.

Anyway, Molly was now getting breaths that were more restorative. She looked up, at the sound of awe in Mrs. Purdsmore's voice, noting the thrilled look on the old witch's face from this sudden twist of events. She was sure to share this revelation with all parties concerned but that was the least of Molly's worries.

It was then her husband chose to step into the kitchen, looking bleary as he usually did on mornings he did not have to go to work. He greeted Mrs. Purdsmore amiably, before turning to his wife to kiss her as he did every morning. The look on her face stopped him – he knew the same way he did that morning so many years ago that something had happened to Ginny.

For Molly had the same look she had on her face when she had found out that Ginny had been taken into the Chamber of Secrets, and when Ginny as a six month old baby had fallen desperately ill with a scalding fever and lay whimpering in her crib. It was something about their daughters that made mothers react in a unique way, especially if it was their only daughter and a daughter they had dreamt about having their entire adult life.

Molly did not love Ginny the way she loved her sons, she loved her the way one would love a piece of themselves that held all hope and promise of everything they could have been. And now, this precious part of her was falling into pieces.

* * *

_Dearest Gin, _

_Your father and I would like to speak to you as soon as possible. Pleasedrop byThe Burrow assoon as you can._

_Love _

_Mum_

Ginny folded the letter and placed in the pocket of the dark green bathrobe she was wearing, one that belonged to Malfoy and therefore hung off her shoulders in a rather becoming manner, as far as Draco was concerned. The man himself was in the kitchen conjuring some rabbit stew, a tad unsuccessfully. Ginny did not notice this though as she stepped into the kitchen, her mind miles away. 

Just then an eagle swooped through the window, dropping the Daily Prophet on the table before flying off. Ginny seated herself at the table, unrolling the papers and reading it slowly and quietly. It was when she turned to the society page that she let out a gasp that resonated in the still air, bouncing off the wooden walls.

Draco turned around from his over boiled stew, to glance at his fiancé who stared at the society pages, horror painted over her pretty features. The entire page was splashed with pictures of herself and Draco – one of both of them seated in the restaurant smiling happily at each other, another of her throwing her napkin in his face, another of him grabbing her by the wrist.

"That's good isn't it?" Draco asked, having come around to the table, leaning down and checking out the contents of the page over Ginny's shoulder. Ginny shook her head, aghast, her mind numb with shock.

"I mean, you can just tell your parents that you had to meet for business and obviously we didn't get along." Draco reasoned.

Ginny shook her head again, pointing to the enlarged picture of her engagement ring. Then in a trembling voice, she read the last line of the article, "Never fear. Malfoy love is not as short term as most of us believe it to be. Since they were seen making up later, if you get my drift. Who knows? Maybe this will not be another Parkinson disaster."

"Virginia-"

Ginny cut him off, rising from her seat so quickly; her chair hit the floor with a thud. The letter her parents had sent her suddenly registered in her head and she knew instantly what it was all about.

"Draco, I've to go." With that she transfigured his robe into pants and sweatshirt and disapparated from sight.

As she walked up to The Burrow, she felt a twinge of guilt at leaving Draco like that but she had been left with no choice. She had to handle her family first. Even from the distance, she could hear the 'pop' sounds of people apparating – her brothers most likely. She shook her head, dreading this. It was inevitable. She would just have to convince them that she loved Draco and that he loved her and made her happy.

"Ginny." Her mother smiled thinly as she came into the living room.

Ginny bend down by the armchair nearest to her, where her father sat looking pale and worried. He smiled at his only daughter, wanting only her happiness. As she bent to kiss him on the cheek, his heart melted, and then suddenly constricted for he had caught an unfamiliar scent wafting around her – it was in the cloth she wore, faint but unmistakable, a foreign scent. Not from the embraces of her brothers, or gardening or from having just woken up. He knew then with a startling clarity that it was all true. Yet he did not begrudge her – love was love after all.

As Ginny moved towards her mother, she ignored the questioning looks from her brothers and the pained expression on Bill's face.

"Sit down Ginny. I think you know what we're here to discuss." Her mother began, her lips pressed in a thin line.

"I don't get it, really Mum, I don't." Disbelief laced her voice as she began, "Why is it that everyone is here to discuss _my_ personal life, _my_ personal decision?"

Ron snorted, standing up and moving to the window, restraining himself. "We never did this when Bill got engaged to Fleur." Ginny pointed out.

"That's because there's nothing wrong with Fleur and he had the decency to tell us himself!" Her mother was obviously angry. This much Ginny knew.

"I would have told you!" Ginny insisted, not preparing to back down.

"When! When the entire wizarding world knew! When you were happily married to him!" Her mother bristled with anger.

"Mum, please!" Bill cut in, in an attempt to calm her down.

"Yeah, Mum, we would have stopped it if it got that far!" Ron cut in, anger getting the better of him.

Mrs. Weasley shook her head, "And how would you have done that when this-this girl's hiding it from all of us!"

Ginny opened her mouth to insist that she would have told them and that was besides the point in the first place, when her mother turned upon Ron, her eyes wide as realization dawned on her. "You knew." She breathed accusatorily.

Ron went red, and then pointed his finger impulsively at Bill. "He did as well!"

His mother gasped, putting her hand to her chest as tears filled her eyes. "My own children," She murmured, "betraying me."

"Honey, it's not like-" Mr. Weasley did not like the look on his wife's face.

"Mum, I forbade her to go near him when I found out." Ron pleaded his case.

"And I really didn't want to upset you." Bill added, "I mean as the eldest brother, I felt it was my responsibility-

"TO TELL ME!" She exploded, rising from her seat, fury radiating off her.

Ginny had had enough. "THAT is NOT the point, Mum. Even if they did tell you, they wouldn't have made a difference! NOTHING can stop me from being with Draco."

A still silence filled the entire room, and Ginny could have heard a pin drop if it did. She stood, looking at her family's shocked, stunned expressions.

"See what I mean!" Ron, who was the first to come to his senses, turned to their mother who looked strangely blank faced.

She rose from her seat to face Ginny, ignoring Ron. The twins had remained surprisingly silent through out the whole thing, watching it like Charlie, with slack jaws and wide eyes. It was not that they were supportive of her being with Draco, but it was best to sit this one out since their mother seemed to be monopolizing the situation.

"You want to be with him?" Molly asked, in her dangerously soft voice that Ginny had inherited. Ginny hesitated before nodding her head.

"Then you can't be with us." There was a cruel bitterness to the taste of the words coming out of her mouth but she had to say them for the sake of her daughter, for the sake of her bright future. She was relying heavily on the fact that Ginny was her daughter and would put her family above everything else. All hell broke loose though at her words.

"Molly! Don't do that! Do you know what you're saying!" Arthur had risen from his seat, disgusted.

"Mum, you're just pushing her towards him!" Charlie deduced sensibly.

"Shouldn't our love for her be unconditional!" Fred stood, glancing at the devastated look on his sister's face.

Ginny stood there, shocked, watching her brothers and father tell her mother off and admonish her for what she had said. Ron stood apart from the rest, looking askance. Her mother had wearily retreated back to her seat.

Ginny had been made to choose. The moment of reckoning had come. Ginny shook her head, keeping her gaze downwards for hot, angry tears had filled her eyes. She would never forgive her mother for this. **_Never_**. Even if they did return to speaking terms or go back to how they were, she would never forgive her.

She disapparated, not wanting to hear anymore, or get hurt anymore, apparating with a loud crack back at the cabin. Draco was lying on the bed, fraught with worry. He sat up with a jolt at the sound of the loud crack and was met with the sight of Ginny standing at the foot of the bed, desolate, dejected, looking utterly vulnerable and lost. Draco moved towards her. It was when he attempted to put his arms around her, that he got the biggest shock of his entire life.

"**_Don'_**t touch me." Ginny's voice rang out, cold and harsh, almost like his father's.

He took a step back away from him, suddenly wishing he was anywhere but where he was. "Virginia I-"

"Don't even think of apologizing!" She spat at him, full of vile emotion she never thought possible. "This is _al_l you fault. I _told_ you, I told you!" She began, backing away from him, wringing her hands in despair. The cold, mean act was gone. She was too upset for any act.

Draco was at his wits end about how to respond, how to make her feel better, how to make the pain she seemed to be feeling go away.

"_You_ insisted to go for dinner there! _You_'re the one! You _knew_ this was going to happen!" It was then she began sobbing, tears streaming down her face in rivulets, making her look more beautiful than ever before.

Draco's heart was breaking. He could hear it, could feel the shards of his heart biting into his insides. "I just hated sneaking around like this, I wanted it out in the open." He explained, desperation lining his tone.

"We'll never..be..able to be together again.. and it's..all your fault!" Ginny sobbed, on the verge of hysteria.

"What did you tell your parents? Maybe I can speak to them?" Draco offered.

"Don't be stupid," She snapped, "My mother wants me to choose between you and my family. They think you're bad for me, they think we'll never work."

"But we will, Virginia, I'll explain to them."

"Easy for you to say," Ginny sniffed, wiping her tears, her stance still rigid with hurt. "Maybe they're right." Ginny said, quietly, after a moment.

Draco stared at her. "What did you say?" He asked, softly.

"I said maybe they're right, maybe we'll never work out! I mean we fight all the time, we rarely get along! You don't even know me, Draco!"

He stared at her, still reeling from her words. He felt as if he had taken a fist to his gut. "But that's because you never give me the chance to!" Draco argued.

"**HAH**! You just don't bother! You don't even love me! You've _never_ even said it!" Ginny had never looked so furious anymore. All her tears had dried up but hurt was evident in each and every line on her face.

"You're right, you know, you're absolutely right." Draco said, his voice barely above a whisper.

Ginny stood stock still. Words said in anger were never true in its intent and not mean to be taken seriously. She had never expected him to agree with her. Twice in a span of an hour, she had been hurt as if someone had inserted a knife right deep down into her chest, slashing her heart.

She deserved this, for listening to her heart, for going along with her love for him. Here she was, having returned to see him, to remind herself of the reasons why he was worth all that she was going through and here he was reinforcing the very doubts she had about their entire relationship.

"I don't love you. I **_HATE_** you." Draco seethed with an insurmountable rage. This was what he got for loving someone as deeply as he loved Ginny.

Ginny closed the distance between them with two steps. She slapped him, soft hand connecting with his hard jaw with a sharp stinging 'crack'. His face remained impassive, a surprisingly blank mask that chilled her to the core.

"**Get out**." He bit out, his two words crashing against the silence that enveloped the cabin.

Ginny need not have been told twice. She left. It was a full minute after she was gone that Draco realized what he had done. He sank onto the bed, head in his hands, misery taking root from the very pit of his stomach. It was over, even before it had really begun.

* * *

**A/N**

**Anyway forgive the errors – this is unbetaed. I posted this chapter quickly because I kind of want to get rid of this story. I have a looong way to go though.**

**You're right. There is something that she's all worried about.**

**As one of my favourite fanfic authors said if you say Draco is OOC you have no grounds because Draco-Ginny fic itself is OOC.**

**I'm glad someone out there likes my guy tips..i'm actually thinking of becoming a 'love doctor'..wat do you think?**

**No sneakie peeks because i am still deciding if i should continue this story or not. My main reason for this indecisiveness is because i don't exactly know where to go from now on with this story.**


	26. Here With Me

**Here With Me**

_I didn't hear you leave  
I wonder how am I still here  
And I don't want to move a thing  
It might change my memory _

Oh I am what I am  
I'll do what I want  
But I can't hide  
I won't go  
I won't sleep  
I can't breathe  
Until you're resting here with me  
I won't leave  
I can't hide  
I cannot be  
Until you're resting here with me

I don't want to call my friends  
They might wake me from this dream  
And I can't leave this bed  
Risk forgetting all that's been

_- Dido_

* * *

It had almost tore her family apart – her refusal to speak to her mother after what she had said to her, done to her, her mother's refusal to speak to either Bill and Ron for not telling her, especially Bill, Ron never wanting to see his sister because of that, Bill upset with his mother for hurting Ginny in such a way and thus, obviously torn between his mother and sister, her father in the exact same predicament.

Draco calling off the engagement and Ginny announcing that she was no longer seeing him did little to lessen the tension then. But love, a very strong undercurrent among the Weasleys, pulled them together, influencing their minds towards forgiveness. After all love and time healed all wounds. Soon there came the day when they could all sit together and have brunch as they did every Sunday, mother smiling fondly down at her brood, as a mother's heart was a deep abyss of forgiveness.

Acts of redemption helped too. Thus, it was a good six years later, that memories of their only daughter's straying love life officially seemed like a part of another life when she became engaged to Terry Boot, captain of the Puddlemere United team, second in place to Harry's Chudley Cannon in the Quidditch English Premier League.

That was whom Ginny was thinking about as she sat on the bed in the opulent hotel in Wales, still in her wet raincoat waiting for the bellman to being her suitcase to her. She had been thinking of calling Terry and informing him that she had arrived safely, via apparition.

Her suite was big, with French doors that led to the sitting room with heavily draped windows, and a mirrored entryway that seemed to double as a bar. She looked at the ivory linen pillows on the massive bed she was sitting on and thought of the waste when it only herself who would sleep there, she who no longer thought of bed as places where love or sex was offered. She closed her eyes in an attempt to relax herself.

She answered the door to the young bellman, over tipping him in compensation for the size of her suitcase. She was aware of scrutiny on his part, impartial scrutiny simply because she was a witch and a young one at that. She abandoned the suitcase in the doorway and crossed to the windows. She drew back the drapes and even the dim light of a rainy day was a shock to the gloom of the room. They were blurred buildings and the gleam of wet streets.

Three nights in one hotel room. Loneliness never really suited her, even though she spent an excessive amount of time thinking. She had long ago accepted this as a part of herself, and had let herself believe that it was a product of her profession, her art, when it was very much the other way around: the spirit sought and found the work to dissipate the discontent.

She wrote poetry, she had been told, that was accessible, a fabulous and slippery word that she took as an insult. For the raw emotions those poems were based on, were far from comprehensible. Her greatest wish was to write anonymously – something she did not mention to her publishers, as their investment in her was paying off.

Most of her collections were selling very well, for reasons no one had predicted or seemed to understand, the unexpected sales being attributed to word of mouth. She did not like to think it had anything to do with her link to Terry – after all sales had been climbing way before he had entered her life.

She leaned against the headboard of the bed, closing her eyes as she began to feel the relief hotel rooms provided: a place where no one could get to her. She had nothing to say later. She had said it all in her poems and if she had anything more to say, that was what her poems were for.

She would coast tonight, segue early into the Q&A and let the audience dictate the event. Mercifully, it would be short. She appreciated literary festivals for precisely that reason – she would be one of many novelists and poets, most of whom were better known that she was. As well known as she was in Britain, this being an international event would mean certain anonymity.

She knew she ought to examine the program before she went to the cocktail party on the theory that it sometimes helped to find an acquaintance early on so that one was not left stranded, looking both unpopular and easy prey. But if she glanced at the program, it would pull her too early into the evening and she resisted this invasion. How protective she had become of herself, as if there was something of value to protect.

Tonight she would wear the delicate diamond earrings Terry had given her with her elegant cowl necked satin black robes. She would paste a smile on her face and walk into the room with her chin tilted up in a proud and elegant manner – rituals she had learnt as the fiancé of the dashing, talented, rich, international quidditch star Terry Boot. He was after all the only reason why she continued to present herself to the world

* * *

The party was in a room reserved for such occasions, with bland music playing and unrecognizable faces, disconcerting Ginny completely. There were perhaps twenty-five people in the suite when she arrived, most drinking and already bonded in clusters, talking. Along one wall, a table had been laid with hors d'oeuvres of a conventional sort.

She walked to bar and asked for some Gillywater. A woman said her name, and Ginny turned to an outstretched hand that belonged to a slight woman dressed in a woolen suit, the colour of irises.

"I'm Susan Sefton, one of the organizers of the Festival. I am such a fan and I wanted to thank you for coming."

"Oh, thank you," Ginny said, "I'm looking forward to it," She lied.

A burly man walked over, muttering something about the reservations that had been made at the French restaurant they were supposed to go to for dinner. Susan flashed her another feral smile and moved off. Ginny drifted to the food table, assaulted with a sudden hunger. She had not had a proper meal since dinner yesterday back at her apartment, whipped up by Luna who had been on her way out, for supper at Harry's place.

She reached for a small paper plate – the management did not provide for large appetites- and heard the hush before she understood it, a mild hush as if someone had lowered the volume a notch or two. From the corner, she heard a whispered name. It could not be, she thought, even as she understood it could. She turned to see the source of the reverential quiet.

Those people who warned that you could not run away because your past would track you down might be right on their target. There, between herself and the doorway was a reprise of another time, a time of sweet young fresh love.

He stood in the doorway, his fine rich black robes billowing about him. His blonde hair having turned a premature grayish white, reaching the nape of his neck, covering his ears, an attractive rumpled mess.

His eyes were as stormy gray as ever but there were deep lines etched in his face that he was still too young to possess. It showed that he has not had an easy life and displayed a great deal of loneliness. He looked more masculine that she could ever remember, awakening a strange, long forgotten feeling in the pit of her abdomen, like a curled up cat stretching. He looked as wealthy and sophisticated as ever but this time; Ginny knew it was his own well-earned wealth.

In the past six years, she had only seen him on the papers, in articles about his efforts in expanding the Malfoy business. Right now, at this very second, _Malfoy Creatiions_ (the name of his company) was monopolizing the wizarding business in Europe and expanding to other areas like media, and were even rumored to be in talks of buying a quidditch team. He was one of the richest wizards in the wizarding world, not because of his father, or dark arts or bribery but because of his sheer hard work.

She turned around, unwilling to be the first person he saw in the room. They were other greetings now, a balloon of quiet but intense attention. She stood immobile, plate in hand, breathing in a tight controlled manner. She raised her hand slowly to her hair and tucked a stray strand behind her ear.

She rubbed her temple softly with her finger. She picked up a cracker and tried to butter it with a crumbly cheese but the cracker broke, disintegrating between her fingers. She examined a fruit bowl of strawberries and grapes, the latter having gone brown at the edges.

Someone said, too unctuously, "Let me get you a drink. Another crowed, "I'm so pleased you could make it, Mr. Malfoy. Your support for this event has been tremendous and your presence amplifies this." Still others murmured, "You cannot know," and "I am such."

It was nothing she told herself as she reached for a glass of water. Years had passed and all of life was different now. She could feel him moving towards her. How awful that after all this time, she and he would have to greet in front of strangers.

"**_Virginia_**." His voice knocked Ginny a loop.

She felt as if she was walking into something she could not control. Ginny tilted her head up to look at his face for he was taller than she remembered. His gray eyes were soft and blinking, his face a picture of immaculate nonchalance.

"Hello, Draco," She said, his name just as unique as her own but his having the weight of history.

He was wearing gloves of silky suede, and fine muggle snakeskin boots that was becoming all the rage in Paris. His hair fell forward onto his forehead and he brushed it away easily. She watched him take her in, she who would be seen to have grown into someone she was not.

"This is very strange." He said.

"They are wondering about us already."

"It's comforting to think we might provide a story." The hint of sardonic humor in his voice made her smile – Malfoy confidence swaggering on the border of arrogance and it was well deserved and well earned.

"I've followed your career."

"What there's been of it."

"You've done well." He said. Ginny cursed the rise of color in her cheeks.

The others moved away from them, conferring about his knowing her. A drink appeared for Draco, who took it and said thank you, disappointing the bearer who hoped for conversation.

"I haven't attended this through out all the years the company sponsored it," He began and stopped.

She did not want to think that he was there because of her. "You like poetry?" She asked.

"Always have." He answered. Another of the many things she did not know about him- a reassuring reason why they would never have worked out.

'When are you reading?"

"Tonight." She answered.

"You got here today?" He asked.

"Just."

"You've come from?" He asked, each question seemingly written in a code she could not decipher.

"London."

A man hovered near Draco's elbow, waiting for admission. Ginny could not figure out what all these poets and novelists would want to say to Draco, a businessman at that. Perhaps it was the concept of mingling with the rich and famous.

"Tell me something," Draco said, ignoring the man beside him and leaning forward so that only she could hear, "did you become a poet because of me?"

She felt something wrong in her fingers and toes that was a whole lot like the edge of panic. It was panic, she was feeling, that much she was certain, and it was creeping along her spine, spreading into her veins, moving towards her vital organs. The blood was fast draining from her face. She was seeing spots before her eyes and every spot was red, hot as cider. _Draco Malfoy just did not let go. He had to come back._

Draco leaned down toward Ginny. "Are you okay? He asked, although he knew from past experience that she was the kind of woman who would not tell you right away if something was wrong.

"I'm going to the washroom," Ginny said causally as if she were not about to collapse.

She turned away from him. The man beside Draco would not go away. Behind him there were others who wanted introductions to the reclusive millionaire wizard. She excused herself and moved through all the admirers and sycophants, who were, of course, not interested in her. _This was nothing_, she told herself again as she reached the door. _Years had passed, and all of life was different now._

* * *

As she emerged from the washroom, she was filled with a consuming need to talk to Terry. She wanted to talk with him alone. She wanted him to tell her that she was the exact same woman she was when she had kissed him goodbye that morning at the apparition point.

She wanted to hear him say it out loud, because at the moment, standing there in the hotel lobby, she did not feel the same. If she were not such a rational creature, she would think the night air was calling to her. Her heart was beating in a different rhythm here, a faster, and a dangerous pace.

Terry had met her on one of her poetry book readings at Three Broomsticks, three years ago when she was beginning to forget and forgive and move on with her life. He was at the right place and at the right time. With his winsome smile, bright blue eyes and dark brown hair, he convinced her to have a drink with him after her reading.

Then after exchanging letters for a few week, he turned up at her apartment with two box office tickets to one of his games – one for herself and Luna, since he would be playing. It was then she began to consider him seriously, consider the fact that he was smitten with her and had a good heart.

Terry was polishing his dragonbolt, the latest designs by _Malfoy Creatiions_, in his living room, his thin, angular frame relaxed when the flames in his fireplace turned green and Ginny's head appeared.

"I'm so glad you're there." Ginny sighed.

Terry had a busy life. They both often joked that he was married to quidditch and she was merely his mistress – something that was closer to the truth than the either of them liked to admit.

Terry laughed, kneeling in front of the fire. "Well, I can't say the same for you."

"It's awful here," Ginny grimaced, "That's for sure."

"Poor baby, I miss you, over here." Terry gave her one of his puppy dog looks that made her laugh.

"I've got to go, I'll talk to you soon." Ginny straightened up, realizing that she had a few minutes to freshen up before heading back to the front of the hotel where they'll be taken to a French bistro called Le Matin.

Upon reaching the lobby, Ginny realized she was later than she thought because the bus had left. She hailed a cab to the restaurant. Susan was at the entrance, as if waiting for her. A smile crossed her face.

"Ginny, go on in there, everyone else is already having dinner." She opened the door for her, before going back to wait outside for something or someone else. The entire place was reserved for the event. Feeling incredibly thirsty, Ginny made her way to the bar, excusing herself politely. She grabbed a stool and sat down to look around.

"What'll you have ma'am?" The roguishly handsome bartender flashed her a smile.

"Red wine." Ginny grinned, feeling a tad relieved. There seemed to be no sign of Draco.

"Hello, a Weasley I presume?" Ginny glanced at the pretty blonde girl who was addressing her, her voice laced with a barely noticeable French accent.

Ginny recognized her instantly, having been bridesmaids with her for Bill's wedding. "Michelle Delacour! How dare you be so polite!" Ginny crowed, thoroughly glad at having found a familiar face. She had conveniently forgotten that her sister-in-law was a novelist.

Michelle was one of the most understanding and generous spirited people Ginny had ever known. Anyone who could put up with Ginny's stubborn streak and mood swings, had to be a saint. For Ginny had not been in entirely good spirits during rehearsals for Bill's wedding and even on the actual day itself, due to tensions within her family and the fact that she had oh-so recently ended it with Draco.

Those had been one of the worst times of her life. The only thing that had made her remotely calm was staying up in her bedroom at her apartment, writing and writing endless pages of poetry. She had even quit her job, seeing no worthy purpose in doing anything except penning poems. It was true, that she became a poet because of him and that he had so shrewdly discerned so made her feel more vulnerable than she cared to.

"Heard Malfoy's here." Michelle murmured, knowing full well about the entire affair between Draco and Ginny, thanks to one of the hysterical outbursts she had witnessed when she and Luna had attempted to drag Ginny out of the apartment, and to Cauldron Inn where everyone was gathered for a pre-wedding rehearsal lunch.

"He was there at the room, but he's not here." Ginny said, confidently sipping her wine, feeling much better in the reassuring company of gentle, sweet Michelle.

"Oh, yes he is." Michelled nodded to a corner, "He's right there."

Be careful what you wished for, her mother used to say all the time but it seemed that Ginny had already decided not to be careful, not tonight at least.

"At the last table."

Draco had his chair propped up against the wall, and although they were five other distinguished looking men sharing the table, he did not appear to be in the same universe. Certainly, he was not listening to them. He had been watching Ginny Weasley ever since she walked through the door.

Ginny turned over so quickly that she knocked over her glass, and then had to wipe the spilled wine with a cocktail napkin.

"It's not too late to leave," Michelle suggested, half-heartedly.

She liked Draco, having worked with him on his broom designs for a few months when she had been into designing. She always thought he would do Ginny a whole world of good than Terry ever would but it was not in her position to say. It was Ginny's decision to live with and besides; she was already a taken woman.

Ginny would have not have missed him if he had not been pointed out to her. She would have seen him sooner or later since the difference between him and other men was clearly visible. The difference was that the air around him seemed charged, perhaps with anger, or heat and light. The difference was the way he could look at someone, the way he was staring at her right now. One look from him was more substantial than the wooden bar she was leaning her elbows upon, realer than the pull of fabric as Michelle tugged on her shawl.

"Let's move over, near to the band." She murmured, pointing to the other corner of the room where there were unoccupied tables and a live band playing soft, melodious music.

At the moment, Ginny did not need much convincing. She was shaking, from the sheer pressure of all those memories, she really was. She was putting something on the line and she was frightened by her own actions. As they made their way to the unoccupied tables, another famous novelist waylaid Michelle. Ginny looked back at the far end of the room where Draco had been sitting. But he was not there and the effect of his absence was that her heart dropped into her stomach, where it stayed until she released he was walking right to her.

It was sometimes possible to look at a person and see inside, although this happened so rarely it was always a shock, like a form of electricity traveling from one soul to another. It could only be glimpsed for an instant, but in that instant you could see the core of a person, even in the middle of a rather crowded restaurant, as he came up beside you, while the band played an old sixties jazz song you have never head before and would never forget.

It happened so quickly – seeing all that hurt and disappointment – it was as fast as breath drawn and released. Just as fast he closed up, you could not get inside Draco for anything now. Not with a hammer or a chisel, not even with begging on your knees. That was the way Draco had lived his life the past six years, until now, until he laid eyes on the only woman who could make him open up, make him cry.

"I thought you weren't going to make it." Draco looked down at her, a lump forming in his throat from just looking at her. He was already thinking about things they could do if the two of them were alone in a room.

"I nearly wasn't.." It took everything she had to keep her nerve and look at Draco. He looked right back at her, so she quickly lowered her gaze to the floor. You had to be extremely careful when you looked in to eyes like his, she realized and remembered.

Draco looked into her eyes and saw himself upside down. He found himself in a pool of golden brown light, drowning, going down for the second time and there was not a damn thing he could do about it.

"I didn't mean to upset you...just now."

"You didn't upset me..You just surprised me." She stated, her voice faltering at his mere closeness.

"So what's for dinner?" She asked, an attempt at casual small talk. In a predicament such as this, it was best to appear normal. Do not give up anything. Do not let them know what you felt deep inside

"An ala Carte menu. Hello, Michelle." Draco smiled, a smile that softened his classic chiseled face as he bend down to kiss the young woman on her cheek. She beamed up at him.

Ginny watched them, surprised that they knew each other. "I didn't know you knew each other.."

"Work – I had to design the broom for his company." Michelle explained.

Draco nodded, making a face, "She has horrid taste. That's why we hired her." He mocked. Michelle swatted his arm, rolling her eyes. Ginny looked a tad taken aback by this lighthearted display of camaraderie between the both of them.

"Well, I don't know about you two but I _really_ do not like standing for more than five minutes." Michelle announced, nodding towards the tables by the band.

Ginny nodded, following her, hoping that Draco was not at their heels. Unfortunately he was. He sensed Ginny's discomfort but he wanted to be near her. He could not help it. As he watched her, a fierce longing seized him but he forced himself to calm down.

He wished he could grab her and kiss her, at least until she gave in. He would like to make love to her right there, he would like to do it all night and not give a damn about anything else, and not listen if she resisted. He knew better though.

Instead he pulled the chair out for her before sitting down across from her. Michelle sat between the both of them, waving at waiter that was sprinting by, for the menus. While waiting for the food, there was an awkward lull in the conversation.

"_Lightning quick smoke gone in a flash_," Draco spoke distinctly, but there was in his voice, which was somewhat louder than it had been, the barest suggestion of excitement. At the next table, a few people turned to look at them.

Ginny sipped at her wine, avoiding the curious look in Michelle's eyes before saying, "_The image, the visage of hope; Down to hysterical tethers…_"

Draco could not leave it at there, even though that was the end of the second last stanza. "_Branches entwined in spirit of day; Hopelessness filling the fill_."

Ginny looked at Draco, then at Michelle. "_Gone in the all and the nothing_," She said quietly, "_Gone away 'tis all."_

"One of your poems, right?" Michelle asked, in an attempt to diffuse the tension. Ginny nodded.

"_Poems For The Devil_." Draco muttered the title of her first poetry collection, his eyes fixed on Ginny who looked unhealthily flushed.

She could not take this anymore, could not bear a second longer. She wanted to scream, to curse herself, her weakness for him and curse him for coming back into her life, for remembering her poems by heart, poems that she had written with him as her muse. Oh Merlin, the daft irony of it all!

"Virginia," He said and his voice caused her more anguish that she could ever have imagined possible.

"What is it?" Her voice sounded bitter and cruel, tinged with exasperation but she did not care. She wanted to see that wounded look on his face, for hurting her all those year ago and now, turning up in her life as if nothing had changed.

Draco shot a pleading look at Michelle who promptly took it as a cue to excuse herself from the table for a moment. Draco glanced back at Ginny who looked as if her entire world had been upended. She looked just as beautiful as ever, more so than he remembered.

He held her curious and wary gaze and began to speak, "I just want-"

**"Draco,** I'm getting married." She blurted out, cutting him off.

Ginny did not want to hear what he really wanted, for a fearfully familiar feeling had resurfaced in her, something like anticipation that was akin to longing. He glanced away from her, the pain in his eyes so fleeting she barely noticed.

Then he looked back at her, a wistful smile gracing his lips. "I've always imagined you getting married on a hill top."

"Who's the groom?" Ginny asked, without thinking.

**"**You haven't decided yet." He stared at her, drinking every feature of hers in, till a blush crept up into her face, tinting the apples of her cheek.

Then he seemed to regain himself, for he straightened his posture, a keen earnest look on his face, "What I really want is for us to be friends – that's least we owe ourselves, after what we had..."

Ginny could not believe what she has just heard. She was so caught up in her disbelief that she forgot to get angry with him for suggesting such a far-off solution to the palpable tension and negative vibes that hung between them. The Draco she had known, the nineteen year old boy she had been in love with, under these circumstances, would have either given her the cold shoulder or insisted they get back together.

This Draco, this _man_, seemed more forgiving, wiser and there was certain stability to the aura of power radiating off him. He seemed surer of himself, who he was and his place in the world. Such was age and maturity, Ginny mused.

"You're different..." She thought aloud.

Draco looked bemused. "Good different or bad different?" He teased lightheartedly, as the waiter arrived with their food.

"That's subjective, innit?" Ginny cocked an eyebrow at him.

_Was she flirting with him?_ She wondered inwardly, horrified with herself. That was when the all too familiar flip flopping of her heart began, just like how it did all those years back, when he told her that _he_ was the one who had given her that invisibility cloak. She could feel the tightness inside her throat and her belly and her chest. She felt as if she could end up on the floor unconscious any moment, her blood boiling, her brain grilled like the succulent salmon on her plate.

Draco flashed her a smile, one of those trademark Malfoy grins that helped him get his way more than he liked to give it credit.

"Finally," He exclaimed when Michelle slid back into her seat. "Your food was going to get cold." Draco chided her.

She exchanged a pointed look with Ginny. "Yes, f_ather_." She dug into her steak with flourish.

"More like Draco was going to take your steak if you hadn't returned soon enough." Ginny commented, perceptively.

Draco bit back a smile while Michelle glanced at the both of them, a look of mild surprise on her face. The air had definitely cleared up between these two.

* * *

The rest of dinner had been relatively uneventful with Michelle's incessant chatter filling in the rare awkward moments. Ginny seemed to have come to the conclusion that Draco meant no harm, though he could tell that his mere presence unsettled her more than his actions.

He, however, was unclear of his own intentions. He had not had an idea that she would be one of the poets here, till that morning when he had arrived and been given the program. He had decided to attend this event because the thought of spending another lonely weekend at the Mansion nearly killed him.

He could have any woman he wanted, not to say he had not but they had been few and were all meaningless flings. One witch had actually told him straight in his face that she could not give him what he was looking for no one else could except the girl he was besotted with – it was _that _obvious. Lately, Draco found that he would rather be by himself than with some random woman.

As he had told Blaise, his company's regional director, he seriously had no interest in investing time in any woman at the moment. To which, the dark haired, blue eyed Slytherin with the playboy streak had stared at him in complete bewilderment and said, **"**What are you - dead?"

But Draco was far from dead. As devastated he was at first, he still continued to love Ginny all these years. He had never loved anyone else, and he never would.

Greatness was always born out of love, nothing else and Draco of all people knew this. His success, his vision, his ambition was only fueled by one thing – love.

He had made the biggest mistake by letting her go, a mistake he could not possibly correct. But he just _could **not**_ give up his love for her – that he assumed was his punishment – having to wake up every morning without her by his side, her hair in his face, her warmth surrounding him.

He had wanted to make himself a better person; at first to win her back. But as the years passed he realized the impossibility of it and bore the seemingly permanent shroud of guilt, desire and rejection resignedly. Now, when he saw her, he realized that he could never let her go and if he could not have her the way he very much desired, he would just have to make do with what he had.

He had even attended her poetry reading - sitting in one of the last rows of seats in the Red Wing Hall, watching Ginny on stage, reading her poems. There had been a good turnout, considering that her reading had taken place at nine-thirty - most people with tickets to the festival would be ready to go home by that time. Also there was the fact that there were other authors at three other separate venues conducting their readings at the same time. The last he saw of her that night was when he was sitting in the lobby waiting for an important business floo call – she had been waiting for the elevator, looking exhausted.

Now as Draco lay on the bed in his special executive suite, he felt his life was unwinding, coming to a grinding halt – all that self imposed exile from high society, all his hard work, his numerous successful businesses and investments meant nothing to him when he could not have what he most wanted. He was a destitute, the poorest man in the world, that was exactly how he felt.

For a brief moment, he wished he could speak to Bill Weasley and ask his advice. It was ironic that he and Bill had become friends of sort through their work together – Bill having been made his financial advisor upon the insistence of one of the senior directors at Gringotts due to his excellent investment skills and financial shrewdness.

Draco, being the quintessential businessman, put aside any hard feelings and the memories of the not so distant past and accepted him. Bill seemed to share the same perspective, initially at least. After numerous consultation sessions and successful investments made by the Malfoy Creatiions, an almost friendly camaraderie developed between them borne from mutual respect for each other.

Draco knew that Bill never mentioned their friendship, let alone their working relationship to anyone of the Weasleys, not even Ginny for fear of stirring up painful memories of the past. It was Bill who told him about Ginny's engagement to Terry, wanting to save his newfound friend the pain of finding it out the hard way: through pictures in the society pages.

That was the first time they spoke of Ginny. Soon after Draco began to open up and he actually told Bill about how it had all begun. The older man had told him to move on with life and let it be, for there was nothing neither of them could do about it. That was probably what he would tell him now as well Draco realized sadly. _Move on and let it be._

* * *

The next morning found Draco outside Michelle's room door. He knocked at the door a few times before he heard the customary click of the doorknob turning.

Ginny looked up at surprise, as he stared down at her with the exact same expression on his face.

Draco was not so surprised to find Ginny in Michelle's room. He presumed that she had grown lonely and wanted to bunk with her, as most females who were good friends tended to do. What surprised him was how she looked, without any jewellery or fancy dress, obviously having just gotten out of bed.

Ginny's hair had slipped out of her rubber band, framing her face in tousled waves. The huge quidditch t-shirt she was wearing hung off her shoulders, exposing her creamy petite shoulders. The t-shirt grazed her mid thighs, her slender legs a sight to behold. She had certainly grown, into a petite, slender women with curves in all he right places. She was beautiful all right, at least in Draco's estimation.

Ginny took two steps back at the look on his face. She could not believe the way he was looking at her, even after all this time. It was Michelle who broke the moment, coming up from behind Ginny, a puzzled look on her face, clad in pyjamas.

"Draco! What brings you here at this ungodly hour?"

He held up the book in his hand, "I wanted to return the novel you lent me." He spoke to Michelle, averting his gaze from Ginny.

"Thanks. How did you find it?" Michelle asked, taking the book.

Ginny moved away then, wanting to get away from Draco before she lost her mind completely and forgot whom Terry Boot was. How could they ever be friends when he made her feel the way she did now? She headed for the couch in the bedroom she had spent the night on.

She sat down, putting her head between her knees because she felt seriously light headed. How was it possible for a single person to evoke so many different emotions in her – regret, longing, desire, anger, hate, pain, misery. Suddenly, she had to get out, get away from all this, and be by herself for just a while. She had no particular event to attend today. Not many people would notice her absence.

"Hey, Gin, Draco asked if we want to go down for breakfast together." Michelle called out, as she walked into the bedroom.

Ginny stood up, her legs shaky, her face pale. She wondered if she had circles under her eyes from the sleeplessness last night. The last time she had been like this was when they had ended it – it seemed as if nothing had changed.

She shook her head at Michelle, before finding her voice, "I don't think so, Michelle. I thought of wandering around town a bit, by myself, just have a look around…" She trailed off, hoping Michelle would not stop her.

It must have been the pleading look on her face forMicelle relented. As Ginny prepared to go back to her own room, she could hear Michelle telling Draco that she would meet him for breakfast downstairs and that Ginny could not make it because she had other plans. Ginny promised Michelle that she would be back by lunch but she knew she was lying.

* * *

At first it had been all right. She had even felt a certain relief from being away from it all. It was fun to walk around Wales' version of Diagon Alley. Here they called it 'Hull Town' for some strange reason. She convinced herself that she was actually enjoying herself. She even bought some souvenirs for Travis, Ron and Hermione's one year old son and some of her other nephews and nieces.

Then, in the afternoon, it began to rain. She had forgotten her umbrella and the rain soaked her hair, gluing it to her head. It ran down her neck, her back and the front of her blouse. It was possible that was when she began to cry, salty tears mingling with the rainwater on her face.

Ginny always thought that she had cried all the tears she ever had over Draco all those years ago, but it turned out she had been wrong. There was more hurt left in her. She thought about the way he looked at her and she cried even harder. She remembered the way it felt to fall asleep in his arms, a vague but distinctly vivid memory and tears leaked out of her eyes even more.

She had no destination, no idea where she was walking. All her thoughts were centered on one person. She remembered the name of the hotel, but she did not want to go there, did not want to be in the same building as him, did not want to be alone in her room. She felt briefly sorry for herself and thought in addition to everything else, she would doubtlessly get a cold.

It was Luna's theory that if one cried in public one would catch a cold. It was not so much retribution for display of emotion as it was the irritation of mucous membranes in the presence of foreign germs. Ginny felt momentarily homesick for Luna, would have liked a glimpse of her friend departing for work in her Healer's white robes, would have liked her special cup of tea.

Ginny marveled at the umbrella she had bought and deeply appreciated the anonymity it provided. If she watched the feet around her carefully, she could hide her face from people as they passed. They were bound to be people who recognized her, since she was still in the magical district and her face had become pasted all over magazines thanks to Terry and her own books.

She walked until she found a park. The rain was letting up some, merely a drizzle now. She walked to a black bench and sat down. She was sitting next to a circular rose garden. It did not have white roses, like the ones Draco had given her, as a token of his love for her.

The rain stopped altogether and she put the umbrella on the bench. She stuck her frozen hands unto the pockets of her coat. She would have to recast all her memories now, push them back into the back of her mind where they had been locked up all this time.

She must have fallen asleep – a dangerous thing to do in a public park all-alone. Then again, Ginny had no sense of anything, let alone what was dangerous or what was not. When she woke, she could see halos on streetlamps in the distance, and a couple running across the street. The rain had started again.

The couple had on long raincoats and the young woman wore heels. They kept their chins tucked against the rain. The man had his one arm around the woman's shoulder, urging her forward through the rain. Ginny wondered if she and Draco would have done that if they were still together. They probably would have. They would have gone for dinner, or to a pub, or to theatre, or to a party with other people.

She walked until she saw from a distance, the discreet marquee, a façade she recognized. The hotel was quiet when she entered. As she walked to the elevators, her clothes felt heavy and sodden. She was enormously relieved that she could remember her room number. As she put the key in the lock, Draco emerged from the room down the hall.

"Holy Merlin," He said, looking at her in the dimly lit hallway.

She briefly wondered how he had known that she had returned, and then figured that he must have put one of those newly discovered alarm charms on her door to find out.

His brow was furrowed, "Michelle was out of her mind wondering what happened to you." He said.

She blinked at him, pushing her hair off her face. Hurt rising to her throat like bile, "Were _you_ worried?" She asked, impulsively. But then again, Ginny had already taken complete leave of her senses.

He ignored her question. "Do you know what time it is?" He asked. There was genuine concern in his voice, one that made him sound like a parent with an errant child. How immature she must seem to him, Ginny mused detachedly.

"It's one o'clock in the morning." He informed her.

She opened her door and walked in. She felt, rather than heard, Draco come in behind her.

"You look like hell." He stated as she let her coat fall from her shoulders. She slipped off her shoes, which had lost their shape and color.

He pulled out a chair from the desk, "Sit down." He said.

She did as she was told. He sat on the couch, facing her, their knees touching. He looked a different man from that morning, drawn, exhausted, the eyes lined and so much older. She imagined that she too had aged considerably.

He took her hands in his – their first physical contact. Ginny felt as though someone has tugged at a thread and was unraveling her. She felt loose, loose limbed and opened up.

"Where did you go?" He asked.

"I went shopping, then walked and walked." She paused and then, "Where's Michelle?" She asked.

"Sleeping. I managed to convince her that I'd take care of you."

_I'd take care of you – _the words had a nice ring to it, Ginny realized.

"I think I'm hungry." She said.

Draco stood up. "Get into a hot bath and I'll floo for some food. You want a drink as well?"

"No, thanks. Just something to eat. You're being very parental."

"Virginia, please."

She stood up, and then faltered. She felt lightheaded. He stepped forward and she pressed her forehead against his robes.

"All those years…" She whispered.

"Shhhh…"

"Draco, all those time.." He pulled her closer, trying to comfort her.

"All those times we made love, we talked, and we did things. I can remember them.."

"It's okay." Though Draco knew it was far from okay. Seeing Ginny like this made him want to tear his heart out and throw it away.

"It's not okay. I loved you. You…." She trailed off, realizing that she still did not know if he had loved her – he had never said it then – those three words 'I love you' had never come from his lips. "Did you?" She sensed a quick change in his breathing, like a hiccup. She drew away and saw that he looked drained. He rubbed his eyes.

"I'll take my bath now….I shouldn't have said all that. I'm sorry."

He put up a hand as if to tell her she need not apologize. "Don't apologize, please."

"You can leave. I'll be fine."

She saw that he doubted she would be fine.

"I'll order the food first."

In the end, he told her. He had not had the heart to leave her that night, in such a vulnerable and broken state. He saw for the first time the damage he had unwittingly inflicted upon her and decided to stay with her, ease his conscience a bit at least. He watched her eat, gave her brandy to make her warm and even tucked her into bed. That was when she told him not to leave her, not tonight at least.

In the dark lying on her bed, she spoke first, telling him everything about the past six years of her life. He listened without saying much, murmuring here and there, once or twice asking a question. She wore the terrycloth hotel robe, and he stayed dressed. He trailed his fingers up and down her arm as she spoke.

When they grew chilly, he pulled a comforter over them. She burrowed her head into the space between his chest and arm. In the dark, she felt the familiar warmth of his body, heard his breathing next to her and nothing had ever felt so right.

"I want you to know that you were the only one, Draco, the only one I was ever really intimate with." She told him, her words slurring slightly with the onslaught with sleep. "You don't have to tell me the same thing. I understand."

All Draco said was, "I _did_ worry about you today."

Ginny was silent for a while. Draco thought she had fallen asleep but then her voice broke the quietness of the air, "You did love me.."

Draco did not know how to lie to her then, her face upturned towards his, eyes shining with hope and anticipation. "I did.."

"Even when you said you didn't."

Draco nodded.

"Even when you said you hated me."

"You can only hate someone you care enough about to hate." He muttered wisely.

Ginny thought they might be something else that she wanted to say but before she could form the words she drifted off to a dreamless slumber.

* * *

**A/N note**

I already mentioned in earlier author's note that since I started this story using Virginia as the formal version of Ginny's name, I will stick to it even though halfway through the story I found her name actually is short form for Ginevra/Ginerva (I forgot which). So if you check on my other DG fics that I started or wrote recently, you will see that I do not use Virginia.

I had written this chapter quite some time ago but after this I am really stuck. My next update will take a lot longer because I have to decide what I want to write in it. I think this story has potential – I just have to bring it around to have the makings of some sort of epic love saga. Wish me luck.

Disclaimer - whatever you see and recognise is NOT MINE

Thanks for all your reviews, especially those readers who faithfully read and reviewed this fic and my other fics and never gave up on this fic of this fanfic author.


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